The Point At Which It All Falls Apart
by morgannia
Summary: Naruto wakes up next to Hinata, confused and unable to recognize the reality he finds himself in. Has he lost his memory or is this a dream that doesn't seem to end? Can she help him, can anyone? Naruhina
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or anything characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debt anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so if anyone is interested in beta-reading , I would more than appreciate it, as well as any & all criticism. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, possible other pairings – I haven't made up my mind on that score yet. I've just gotten a beta-reader, Chelsea, so this is the updated/corrected chapter. Thanks so much Chelsea this story wouldn't be nearly as well written without her help.

Chapter 1 – Time To Awaken

Naruto tightly clenched his fists as he watched Neji land yet another blow on the delicate wisp of a girl, desperately struggling to hold her own in a match where she was clearly outclassed. This wasn't his fight, he knew that he shouldn't interfere, but he was afraid that if he stood by and did nothing, then she would die and he absolutely refused to do that. The next time Hinata went down, he decided, if that bastard cousin of hers tried to continued the fight, then Neji would have to face him, and damn the consequences. Being disqualified from the Chuunin exam would suck, but after watching her reject her cousin's accusation of weakness and slowly standing up again, bloody but not broken, something inside of him violently rebelled against watching her come to any further harm.

He didn't know Hinata very well, she was too quiet and a little strange for him to really call a friend, but there was something – just special about her - that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He wasn't as stupid as everyone around him believed and for the most part, Naruto didn't care about how dense everyone thought he was. If anything, it led others to underestimate him and in the end that generally worked to his favor. But Hinata really did confuse him: he knew that she liked him, but for the life of him, couldn't understand why or exactly what to do about it. She wasn't like Sakura, whom he could easily approach, even though he knew that he didn't have a chance with her. His teammates would react in some way, usually negatively either by insulting him or hitting him, but Hinata was so shy, she'd just blush at him before running away and the last thing Naruto wanted was to scare her off.

Sakura's shocked gasp startled the young genin and as he looked down on the combatants, he couldn't repress a low snarl that promised retribution. Springing forward, he reached out, laying one hand on the wall in front of him for leverage as he leaped down to the floor and landed in a low crouch in front of Hinata's prone figure. "Back off, Neji. This fight is over."

"Get out of my way, dead last. This is clan business that doesn't involve you," sneered the older boy.

"I'm not warning you again. You want to get to Hinata, you've got to get through me and, dead last or not, I'll still kick your ass." The blonde ninja smoothly stood up, wishing that the Hyunnga genius would give him a reason to attack.

The observers in the stands exploded in an uproar, some calling for an end to the fight, most jeering Naruto and demanding not only that he leave the fighting arena, but also that he be disqualified from the exam. The examiner, however, walked past the two genins staring at each other to bend down next to the fallen girl. He slowly rose to his feet, announcing, "This fight is over, Neji is the winner. Hinata Hyuuga is dead."

The audience fell silent. Naruto heard the words, then nothing more but a dull roar in his ears that nearly overwhelmed him, and he opened his mouth in inaudible denial. He abruptly spun on his heel, turning to kneel next to Hinata, his heart rejecting the truth he saw for himself, something squeezing impossibly tight deep inside his chest. With a shaking hand, he reached out to brush her bangs out of her pale face, revealing her once luminescent eyes clouded over in a way that seemed to break something inside of him. He gently closed them, before turning back to face her killer. Sapphire eyes caught the faintest smirk of satisfaction cross the lips of Neji and he growled. He'd never felt anything like what he felt in that moment - it was pure, overpowering, murderous rage. The examiner moved between the fighters, even as Naruto lunged forward, intent on nothing less than total vengeance.

An opaque wash of red fell, obscuring his vision, so that he only dimly saw the arm flung out in front of him, before crashing into it. The impact sent him sprawling to the ground, facedown. Shaking his head, he placed his palms flat on the floor as he tried to push himself up, but faltered, falling back down. A gray fog seemed to rise up, encompassing everything as far as he could seem. He forced himself to his feet and even took a few steps, as he tried to find his opponent, but was completely disoriented. Staring at the fog, he noticed that it began to darken in a strangely familiar pattern around him. In the surrounding darkness he heard something that started as a low and distant mumble but grew louder as he began walking towards it.

"_Little fox . . . little fox . . . hide far away . . . it'll never be far enough . . . "_

The voice was deeply disturbing to him on a level that made him extremely anxious. It was something he didn't want to remember, but wouldn't ever allow him to truly forget. It changed from taunting him to an outright and growled command.

"_Little fox . . . little fox . . it's time to awaken . . . you've slept for too long . . . " _

"Naruto-kun . . . Naruto-kun . . . wake up!" Sapphire eyes snapped open to stare up into lavender opalescent ones. Gasping loudly under her watchful gaze, he painfully sucked air into his oxygen-starved lungs. Closing his eyes for a moment, he let his head fall back into the cool pillow. "Ano, Naruto? Are you ok?" Hinata ran a gentle hand through his hair, quickly jerking her hand back when he flinched and turned his face away from her touch. Pulling her knees under her, she gathered a loose sheet around her nude upper body as she leaned back on her heels, concerned about his uncharacteristic behavior.

Nothing was making sense anymore. That girl, no woman, he corrected himself – looked kinda like Hinata, sounded like her too, but she was older and why the hell would she be in bed with him and didn't he just see her die? For that matter where the hell was he? It was dark, he knew that much. It was obviously late at night, or maybe early morning judging by the light just beginning to filter through the blinds. Shaking his still dazed head, he swung his legs out onto the floor, sat up on the bed and absently opened his eyes, receiving another shock that was enough to make him want to close his eyes again. What the fuck was going on?

He abruptly stood up and stalked across the room, looking for a light switch or mirror. Passing under a naked bulb, he pulled the chain, blinking in the sudden harsh light as he found himself standing in front of a full length mirror on the back of what he absently recognized as the closet door in his apartment and watched as his own jaw dropped in the reflection. Staring back at him was an attractive young man, maybe in his late teens or early twenties. "Oh fuck!"

Naruto stared in the mirror in utter disbelief as his mind struggled to assimilate what his senses told him and what he knew to be the truth. Failing to make sense of what was happening to him, he looked at his reflection in morbid fascination. He noted that at least he was good-looking, lean and muscular, with a few random scars that he idly wondered about. He reached up, his fingers lightly tracing the black and intricately drawn anbu tattoo on his upper left arm. Pushing his longer than normal blonde hair back and off his face, he laughed sarcastically when he noticed that he still had his seal on his flat stomach. Even in his dreams, he couldn't escape that damn curse.

His eyes flickered up, hardening slightly, as he saw Hinata in the upper corner of the mirror. She was hesitantly walking towards him, a white sheet securely knotted just above and between her breasts that dragged along behind her like the train of a dress. As she came closer, he realized that at least she was wearing something, as opposed to him standing there stark naked. Glancing down he found a pair of jeans lying on the floor and quickly snagged them. He didn't bother to fasten them and they rode low on his hips. Looking up, he observed that her approach was very careful, one arm slowly stretching out, so as if not to alarm him. "Naruto-kun . . . what's wrong?"

He laughed cynically, not knowing where to even begin. "Everything, absolutely everything is wrong."

"Nani?" Her voice was soft as she slowly reached a hand to rest it lightly on his bare back as she drew up beside him. "I don't understand what is wrong. I know your last mission was difficult, but no one was seriously hurt. Did you have a bad dream or did something happen that you didn't tell me about?"

"Mission?" He repeated almost helplessly, feeling increasingly frustrated. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't remember any mission, I don't know why you're here, I don't even know how old I'm supposed to be. Hinata? What- what's going on?"

She froze for a moment, registering his words, although they made no real sense to her. "I don't understand what you mean. Come back to bed, Naruto." She reached out, tugging him on his arm. "We'll sit down and figure out what's wrong together."

Shaking his head in confusion, Naruto allowed himself to be led back to the bed in the middle of the room. Once they reached it though, he remained standing and resisted her efforts to get him to sit down. "Come on, it's me. I would never hurt you, you remember that much, right?"

He glanced down to see her looking up at him and pulled his arm free of her grasp, self-consciously wrapping his arms low around his waist, obscuring where his seal would be. After a moment, he noticed her nibbling on her lower lip and looking more anxious in the silence that fell, as he tried to decide exactly how to answer her question. "Na-Naruto?"

He heard the waver in her voice and winced slightly. Hinata had always been someone . . . important to him, although he wasn't exactly sure why. Remembering his dream (but wasn't it a memory? a distant voice in his head asked him), he felt that pain and fear rush back into him. Hell, he didn't know what was real or false at this point, but now that she was sitting in front of him, apparently alive and well, the last thing he wanted was to see her upset again.

Sighing, he turned around, his eyes scanning the floor until he found a t-shirt and he grabbed it, quickly slipping it over his head. He felt more comfortable mostly dressed and bare-footed. He walked back to the bed, snagging a chair along the way to sit, since joining Hinata on the bed still seemed a bit weird to him. Sitting down a few feet away from her, he noted that in addition to biting her lower lip, she was also twiddling her thumbs and that observation brought a brief smile to lips. At least, some things don't change, he wryly thought to himself. "Ano . . . "

Naruto broke in when it was obvious to him that she didn't know what to say. "I'm just really confused, Hinata, and I had nasty nightmare that didn't exactly help. . ." he paused for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know how to explain all this, " he waved one hand around the room, "except to say that the last thing I remember is going after Sasuke when he ran off after Orochimaru."

Hinata's jaw dropped in stunned silence. "B-but that was years ago . . ." Her voice was hushed and her eyes opened wide as she leaned back. Naruto's reaction was no less shocked. His jaw visibly tightened and his hands wrapped around the arms of the chair, his knuckles turning bone white from his grip.

"How many years?" His voice was controlled, the very precise enunciation was the only thing that betrayed how desperate he was to hear her answer.

"Nine," she whispered, flinching despite herself when he launched himself out of his chair. Her head lowered slightly as her shoulders hunched in and she clenched her eyes shut. After a moment she hesitantly reopened them to see him pacing in front of her. The chair was carelessly thrown aside, as he repeatedly raked his hand through his hair, sending the long blonde strands falling around his handsome face.

"So you're trying to tell me exactly what? That I'm suddenly twenty-one? This isn't real. It can't be real. It just can't be." He sat down on the floor, his forehead resting in his hand propped on his knee pulled up to his chest, and his other leg sprawled out in front of him. He didn't even really know who he was asking: himself or the girl who watched him with wary eyes?

"Naruto . . . " Hinata's voice caught painfully in her throat. She didn't know what was going on, but she couldn't stand to see him in this much pain. Biting her lower lip tightly, she very slowly got off the bed and keeping her movements to the barest minimum, tentatively made her way to kneel slightly left and in front of him. Refusing to think about the wisdom of her actions, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into her. Naruto momentarily stiffened, resisting her hold on him, before almost bonelessly melting in the warm circle of her bare arms. His arms snuck around her waist as he leaned into her at an awkward angle, his face resting on her sheet-covered breasts, so that his hair tickled her bare skin above it.

She could feel him lightly shaking as he held onto her tightly. "I don't know what is going on, but I'm here for you and we'll figure it out together: I promise you." Nothing she had been told about the mission after the debriefing would explain this . . . except - and she audibly gasped as the realization hit her - there was a point when he had been separated from his team. Obviously, something must have happened then, but what? Looking over her shoulder, she saw the lightning of the sky. "Naruto," her voice sounded abnormally loud and she winced, letting it fall to a low whisper," it's still very early; dawn is just breaking. Come back to bed and first thing in the morning, we'll track down Tsuande, Kakashi and the others on your team. We'll figure out what happened and how to fix it. It'll be ok, and then everything can go back to normal."

Naruto had to stop himself from laughing absurdly. Normal, he mentally scoffed, unsure if anything could ever be normal again. Hinata took his silence as consent and reaching around her back, she grasped his hands in her own and with a gentle, but firm grip, and pulled his hands free. Standing up smoothly, she tugged him to his feet and led him back to bed for the second time that night. Reaching the bed, he looked at it and then to the girl who stood next to him, just short of his shoulder, in a sudden and near-panicked state of confusion. Whatever Hinata seemed to believe was 'normal,' his twelve-year-old mind in this twenty-one-year-old body was just flipping out at the thought of spending the rest of the night asleep with anyone, let alone a girl and especially not Hinata . . .

When he stopped dead in his tracks, she looked up at him in curiosity. Taking in his expression of confusion, mingled with an unspoken horror, she opened her mouth to question him, before it occurred to her that right now he remembered nothing of their past and actually thought that he was - she quickly did the math - twelve years old? Oh God, if she felt so disturbed by the idea, she couldn't hope to understand what he was going through, but she knew that she had to find a way to try and make him comfortable. "Ok, if you want to turn around, I'll slip something on to sleep in. Over in that dresser," she gestured with her free arm, "you should be able to find some clean shorts and t-shirts, if you want to change. Afterwards we can decide what the sleeping arrangements should be."

Hinata held her breath, until she could feel the tension leach out of his desperate hold on her hand and his expression became more relaxed. "Yeah, that'd be good." Despite the insanity his life had suddenly become, Naruto could feel a blush burning his cheeks, when she turned to him with a bright smile. She slid her hand free of his and watched him make his way over to the dresser and start searching for something to wear, before turning to find something for her. Finally pulling out a black t-shirt and matching shorts, he glanced over his shoulder again, unsure if he expected her to be peeking at him or if he wanted to peek at her and his mouth went dry.

Somewhere in his brain, he distantly knew that staring at her was the last thing that he should be doing, but for the life of him, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the milky white skin suddenly exposed. She stood in profile, wearing only a pair of shorts that looked disturbingly like a cut-off version of his orange pants, her full breasts almost gleaming in the faint light, before she pulled on a t-shirt. Shaking his head, he forced himself to turn away and pull on whatever he grabbed. The shorts he grabbed were tighter than he would have liked and he shifted uncomfortably, all too aware and intensely embarrassed about his heavy arousal. Please don't notice, please don't notice, please don't –, "Ano, Naruto?" Her questioning voice broke his mental chant and he turned slightly, still trying to hide his hard-on, even as he pulled at his shirt, attempting to stretch it out as much as possible.

"We could share the bed . . . " she drifted off, seeing the sudden widening of his eyes, "or you could take the bed and I'll make do on the couch."

"Oh no, " he quickly jumped in, "you're the girl, so you should take the bed, Hinata. The couch would be just fine for me."

She smiled. Even under these circumstances, he was still thinking of her. "That's very sweet, Naruto, but after the mission and the night you've had, I must insist that you take the bed. It would be the only right thing to do," shrugging her shoulders.

"I can't take the bed from you." Naruto paused as she started shaking her head in an automatic refusal. "We could try sharing the bed, I suppose." The words slipped out before he could stop himself from saying them and they hung heavily in the air.

"Sure, if you're comfortable with that." He meant to shake his head no, but instead found himself nodding in agreement. Feeling awkward and stupid, he wanted to smack himself in the forehead, but decided to just get into bed and to stay on his side, maintaining a safe distance from her. Maybe this was all just a bad dream that he hadn't woken up from and hopefully he'd wake up and everything would be back to normal. Blue eyes watched as she walked around the bed to turn off the light, before she carefully slid in between the sheets on the far side of the bed. And after a long moment, he did the same.

TBC

Ok So that was the first chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated me, well let me that too and why.


	2. Vertigo

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so if anyone is interested in beta-reading, I would more than appreciate it, as well as any and all criticism. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, possible other pairings – I haven't made up my mind on that score yet.

I've just gotten a beta-reader, Chelsea, so this is the updated/corrected chapter. Thanks so much Chelsea this story wouldn't be nearly as well written without her help.

Chapter 2 - Vertigo

He was in that void of darkness again, searching for something . . . someone that he couldn't, for the life of him, remember, but he knew it was the most important thing. And then he heard it.

_"Run away . . . little fox . . . run away fast . . . the hunters are on your trail." _

Naruto's blue eyes sprung open, as he jackknifed to awareness, his hands instinctively seeking out a weapon of some sort. Suddenly and now truly awake, he relaxed back down, looking over at the girl still peacefully sleeping and curled up next to him. Unfortunately for him, he remembered little more than he did the night before. Stealthily sneaking out of the bed, he prowled around the room, searching for some clue or something - anything that made sense. He couldn't get over the bizarre sensation of looking at pictures of himself that he couldn't remember having been taken.

As much as he would have liked to write this all off as one extremely long and realistic dream, he knew that to be nothing more than wishful thinking. It was too painfully real, and then there was that voice he kept hearing every time he closed his eyes. Something was definitely wrong, but he just couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. Walking around, he picked up one framed photograph and he felt his frustration with this situation building up again. It appeared to be an intimate shot of him and Hinata. He had one hand around her waist, pulling her in tighter and the other cupped her face, while she echoed his stance, one hand on his face and the other just touching his arm and they were about to kiss.

Naruto deeply inhaled, a rush of unfamiliar emotions rising within him at the sight of it. On one level, he felt almost violated by whoever took the picture - this was an obviously private moment, not meant for anyone else's eyes - but at the same time he was grateful beyond belief for being able to see it. More than anything, he wished that he could remember this kiss, or maybe it was a near kiss. Most people, even those he was close to, overlooked or discounted him and honestly he was growing accustomed to it. Yeah, it still sucked, but it was something that he had almost grown used to. Hinata just had this certain look in her eyes that he had never believed anyone would ever feel about him, no one had EVER looked at him like that, in his life.

"That was always one of my favorite pictures of us." Her soft voice interrupted his musings, and he carefully placed the picture in its spot on the dresser, before turning slightly to face her.

"When was it taken?"

Her gentle smile fell and she bit her lip a moment, running a hand through sleep tousled raven blue-black hair. "Well, that answers one question, I guess. You really don't remember, do you?" She paused, searching his expression for some hint that this was some elaborate practical joke, while he steadily met her gaze. Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "That picture was taken three years ago, just before you invited me to move into the apartment with you." She lowered her head just enough to allow her shoulder length hair to fall in front of her face, obscuring her from his sight and he heard a soft hiccup as though her breath had been caught in her throat.

Naruto felt awkward, knowing he was the cause of her pain, but helpless as to how he could stop it. Part of him desperately wanted to cross the few feet of distance that separated them and try to comfort her, but the rest of him realized that this was wrong and until he could figure out what was going on, it would be best not to do anything. He continued to watch her in a painful silence, punctuated only by what he suspected were her choked back sobs, and guilt sliced through him. Before he even knew what was happening, one leg involuntarily swung out and then the other, as he jerkily began moving towards her. Nearly a foot away, one hand already reaching out to her, her head suddenly rose and he froze as he looked her in her eyes, dry but slightly tinged with red and suspiciously bright.

"I'm sorry, we need to try and learn what happened last night on your mission and here I am wasting precious time. We need to get going and find the others and the Fifth. Hopefully they'll know what to do and you'll recover your memory and then all this," she waved one arm towards the dresser, dropping her eyes to the floor, "will be forgotten and we can get back to our lives, ok?" Without waiting for a response from him, she quickly stood up and slid past him, walking towards the closet.

Still feeling ill at ease, he looked at the now empty bed, abruptly pulling his arm back to his side. He could hear her behind him, walking into the bathroom and immediately turning the water on, which drowned out any further noise. Sitting down, he leaned back, lying crossways across the still warm bed, feeling strangely abandoned by her sudden departure. It was odd; logically he knew that she was just in the other room, but still he missed her familiar presence. This was his apartment, he'd recognize that crack in the ceiling anywhere, but without her, it all seemed alien in an almost sinister sort of way.

Staring up at the crack in the ceiling that he had long ago given up trying to fix, he blinked and rubbed his eyes. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but the crack seemed to be . . . growing – longer and wider. He continued idly watching it, with a mixed sense of curiosity and unease. His fingers splayed out as he attempted to push himself up and off the bed, but he felt a slight tremor of weakness run through his arms, before they fell limply back down. Blue eyes widened as the crack continued to grow larger, revealing a vast darkness hiding behind it and he realized that he couldn't look away. It was as if he was suddenly mesmerized by it and he began feeling disturbingly disoriented, as if he was suffering from vertigo and about to fall into the darkness.

_"Little fox . . . little fox . . . . the hunters come in search of you." _

The feral growl that emanated from the blackness seemed to begin to encompass the room. Naruto forced himself to ignore the instinctive rush of panic that coursed through him and instead he tried to focus on evaluating the situation, because this time it wasn't just his sanity at stake. If this was real, if this was actually happening, he reminded himself that Hinata was in the next room. She could walk in at anytime and would be completely unprepared for whatever the fuck was going on. He had to do something and he had to do it now, before whatever was waiting for him got out and put her in danger as well. Suddenly he heard the water come to a stop, his eyes fastened to the door, waiting for it to open and praying that it wouldn't.

_"Little fox . . . little fox . . . your time grows shorter."_

"Sonovabitch . . ." He cursed inaudibly, unable to even warn her of the danger she was about to walk into. His eyes flickered back up the sea of black that had taken over the entire ceiling and was creeping steadily down the walls around him, and then back to the door, watching the doorknob slowly turn as the door began to open. He knew it was now or never and grinding his teeth, he dug his fingers into the sheets and frantically attempted to push himself up to his feet.

A clawed arm began descending from above him even as he heard, "Naruto-kun, the shower is free, if you –" His eyes darted toward the doorway, awaiting her horrified expression, only to be confused as she stood in front of him relaxed and calm as she towel-dried her hair. "Naruto . . . are you ok?" Hinata pulled the towel free and ran one hand through her still damp tresses, as she cocked her head to the side and watched him curiously. Blinking, his eyes flew up, expecting to see the darkness, but only saw the old crack in the ceiling. He hesitantly pushed himself into a seated position and then immediately stood up.

Shaking his head as if to clear it, he realized that Hinata was still waiting for him to answer and was growing concerned by his lack of a response. He ran his hand through his hair, rapidly making his decision. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just . . .sort of dozed off a bit. No big deal," and he turned around, not wanting to look her in the eye as he lied to her. If his worst fears were true, if he was crazy he – well, he didn't really know what he was going to do, but there was no point in scaring her until he had a reason to. "Let's just get going, ok?" Naruto tried to make his voice as causal as possible, completely missing the way she intently watched him, her eyes darkening slightly as she recognized the evasion in his words, but decided to let it pass for now anyway.

* * *

Waiting around for Tsunade, Hinata refused to twiddle her fingers or pace impatiently around the room despite the constant impulse to do so. She was trying to project a confident façade to Naruto that belied her internal fear and confusion. In all her study to become a medic-nin, she had never heard a condition similar to what he seemed to be suffering from. As much as she wanted to believe that it was some form of amnesia, other than the memory loss, the symptoms didn't match up. There was no head trauma she could see that would have induced it and his behavior last night, before they went to sleep, was perfectly normal until he woke up from that dream. In fact, the only outward sign of her distress was the biting of her bottom lip, which she was completely unaware of.

Naruto, on the other hand, leaned up against the far wall, arms crossed in front of his chest and blue eyes open a mere sliver as he watched her fidget under his steady gaze. She resisted the urge to run her fingers through her hair, holding them tightly against her sides instead. Closing her eyes, she could still feel him watching her and it was disconcerting as hell. Some part of her felt like pulling out a kunai, holding it to his throat and demanding the return of her Naruto-kun, because she didn't recognize the stranger who stood before her so quiet and still. But at the same time, she wanted nothing more than to cross the room, walk into his arms and know that everything was going to go back to normal.

The door they had waited for suddenly swung open, and she gave a sigh of relief. If anyone could make this right, then it would be the Fifth. She had to. Tsunade strolled out the door, rubbing her eyes wearily. "Don't you people sleep? You are aware that it is only . . . "

"Nine thirty in the morning? Sorry, wasn't aware you were up late last night drinking."

Hinata's head whipped around in horror. She never imagined the Hokage would be sleeping in late this morning, and she couldn't believe the complete disrespect showed to her by Naruto. She calculated the distance between her and Naruto, wondering if she had time and the ability to rush across the room and gag him. As if he was reading her thoughts he abruptly pushed himself off the wall, adopting a loose and ready stance that she was disturbingly wary to provoke. Instead she merely moved to stand in front of him, hands raised in a conciliatory gesture. "Ano . . . . Hokage-sama, we both apologize for our early arrival - "

"Hinata for the last time, call me Tsunade, will you? And as far as you, Naruto, well, it's too early to get into an argument, so I'll deal with you later." She held the door open for them to enter. "Now I assume that Naruto is here to debrief from the mission, but I'm not entirely sure why you're here, Hinata. You should know by now that these are confidential, despite whatever a certain person might tell you." The older woman gave the tall blonde the hairy eyeball, before turning back to Hinata and sighing.

With a slight tinge of red, Hinata dropped her eyes to the ground, allowing a wave of blue-black hair to fall in front of her face. "Sorry, Tsunade, but the mission is why we're both here. Something," she paused stressing the word, "happened on that mission and we need to know so we can begin to correct it."

Tsunade cocked her head to the side. She had a rough idea of what went down on the mission from what Kakashi had told her about their encounter with the rogue group of missing nins that included the traitor Uchiha, and while he and Naruto fought, the traitors managed to escape nonetheless. But as far as she had understood, all the members of the Leaf, including Naruto, were unharmed. "What are you talking about, Hinata?"

She turned back, tilting her head up to see Naruto staring back at her, and despite how he had been acting this morning, she could see the confusion and the slightest hint of panic in his eyes, and she felt a tightness in her chest. Discreetly slipping a hand behind her, she found his and gave him a quick smile, squeezing his hand lightly, before she turned back to the Fifth. "Perhaps this is something we should talk about in private?"

"If you'd like." She moved aside to let them in, closing the door behind them.

* * *

Rubbing her forehead, Tsunadecould feel a migraine building, as she mentally reviewed everything they had told her. To say that she was shocked was an understatement in the least. Times like this, she wanted to smack Kaskashi-baka in the head for not warning her. Hinata was anxiously sitting so far on the edge of her seat that the older woman was amazed she hadn't fallen off yet, while Naruto leaned back in his, a sullen and almost belligerent expression on his face that eerily reminded of her of when she first met him. She didn't miss the way he was acting as if this entire discussion was irrelevant, but held onto his girlfriend as if she was his only lifeline, idly noting that if he clenched any tighter, he might actually break the younger woman's hand. As disturbed as she was by this apparent situation, she was more than curious about whatever it was that Naruto was holding back, and wondered if Hinata's presence was inhibiting him in some way. He had barely said anything and that concerned her more than anything else, because of course that was almost unheard of for Konoha's loudest ninja.

Obaachan said all the right things, all right, but Naruto couldn't bring himself to believe a word of them. She might have convinced Hinata, and he gave the younger girl a quick sidelong glance, but that was more because she wanted to believe and allowed herself to be convinced. But he could tell that Tsunade didn't have a clue what was going on with him and as Shikamaru would say, that was troublesome. He also was aware that she knew he wasn't telling her everything, but he decided right then and there not to tell anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. The last thing he needed was for everyone to know that he was losing his mind. His delusions thus far seemed only dangerous to him and until that changed, he was just going to have to learn to ignore them. Gods knew he had been forced to ignore a helluva lot in his life already just to become a shinobi, how hard could it really be?

As far as talking, he was more than content to let Hinata speak for him at the moment, going on the theory that the least he said, the least likely he'd be to screw something up or give any proof that he was holding something back. Maybe it was suspicious and would possibly backfire on him at some point, but it's not like he had a better plan in mind. Feeling a slight brush of a thumb on the back of his hand, he looked over again at Hinata, who was deep in conversation with the Fifth. He tuned out what they were saying to watch her, as she continued impassionedly demanding something, likely information if he had to guess. She was waving her free hand slightly as if to punctuate her words, never letting on for one moment that she was trying to comfort him even as she, the shyest kunoichi in the village, was arguing with the Hokage on his behalf. This disparity, given what he remembered of Hinata and especially the picture he had seen this morning, endeared her all the more to him and he fondly smiled at her.

After a few more minutes of back and forth between the two women, while he watched on silently, Tsunadeannounced that she needed more information to figure out what was going on and summoned his teammates Kakashi, Shikamaru, Shino and Tenten. Until they were there, there was nothing to do but wait. The old hag had wanted to speak to him privately, but he begged off, claiming he was hungry, and Hinata quickly backed him up. So the Fifth reluctantly let them leave with an admonition that they would return within the hour.

* * *

Walking back from the Ichiraku, Naruto felt the villager's eyes on the two of them disapprovingly and in a fit of piquet, reached out to hold Hinata's smaller hand in his own, almost waiting for her to pull away. He was pleasantly surprised when she didn't, and at the same time he felt slightly ashamed at the thought that she might. For the first time since he woke up last night, he felt moderately relaxed; a few bowels of ramen with Hinata for company seemed to do the trick for him. She didn't ask any awkward questions or put any pressure on him, more than content to eat and simply talk about the old times that he could remember. 

However, as they approached Tsunade's office, he could feel the tension begin to come back. When they walked in and he saw his friends now all either Jounin or Anbu gathered around watching them curiously, he wanted nothing more than to turn and flee, taking Hinata with him. Unfortunately, he was realistic enough to know that no matter how attractive that idea might be, it would never work, so he took a moment to steel himself and continued further into the room, ignoring the stares he was receiving. Hinata began rubbing her thumb against the back of his hand in an effort to soothe him and despite himself, he could feel it beginning to take effect.

"Oi, what are we all doing here?" Shikamaru asked impatiently. He had just gotten back from a mission and wanted nothing more than to stare at the clouds, before Ino found him and dragged him off somewhere.

"You're here because I told you to be." Tsunaderetorted, scanning around the collective group, clearly annoyed. "And will someone please tell me where the hell Kakashi is?"

"Yo!" The silver haired Copy-nin lazily lifted one hand up, as everyone turned around to stare at the perpetually late Jounin just strolling through the door. "Well, I was on the road of life, and –"

"Don't even start with me this morning. We have a serious problem and I need you," the Hokage waved an arm encompassing the room, "to tell me exactly what happened to Naruto on your mission." Everyone in the room with the exception of Naruto, Hinata and Tsuande exchanged blank glances, clueless as to why she would even ask such a question.

Arching one eyebrow, Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "You'll have to be more specific because I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Damnit". She sighed again. "I was really hoping that you wouldn't say that." Sitting down, she began explaining the situation for the second time that day. When she finished, everyone had gone dead silent for a long moment, trying to glance over at Naruto without being obvious. They needn't have bothered with the subterfuge, because he was busy staring at the opposite wall, determined to defiantly ignore them all. He didn't want or need their pity.

"Well, that is troublesome."

Shikamaru was promptly smacked in the arm by Tenten, as if she was suddenly stepping up to take Ino's place in the other girl's absence from this meeting. Rubbing his arm and muttered something under his breath about bossy women, he rolled his eyes, adding, "Well, as expected we found the missing nin that were harassing the Wave country, and then we all broke off, taking them on one by one. Naruto wandered off out of my line of sight and went after someone that looked like Sasuke. When he returned, a little worse for wear, he seemed fine, pissed off, but fine. He admitted that it was Sasuke, but that the bastard had gotten away again with a little help from one of his new friends. Other than being angry about not capturing him, Naruto seemed perfectly normal, exhibiting none of this apparent memory loss."

Looking around, Tsunadesaw agreement on everyone else's faces. In her experience, she had never come across a technique that that could simply wipe a segment of someone's memory and wasn't sure exactly how to proceed. "Until we can figure out what is going on, Naruto, I'm sorry but I have no other choice than to take you off active duty. At this point, it's just too dangerous and this village has too much invested in you to lose you now. Although I have to say the timing on this really sucks." She stood up, not bothering to elaborate on her last statement, Naruto was intrigued, but decided to wait until they were alone to question Hinata.

Everyone got up and began milling around, most left, but Naruto noted that Kakashi got up and walked over to Tsunade and they began an intensely quiet conversation that he knew was about him. He distantly heard both his and Sasuke's names mentioned and saw more than one furtive glance over to him. But as interesting as listening in on that conversation might have been, he had other things on his mind. He wanted to know exactly what he had missed in the past few years, what was going on, why Sasuke was still apparently running loose, where the hell were the rest of his friends – details that he intended to get out of Hinata.

TBC

Ok So that was the second chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me that too and why. I've only recently discovered Naruto and I'm depending on you to let me know if they're OOC, or off in any other way.

As far as Naruto teammates, it seemed there was a bit of confusion, which will hopefully be cleared up in this chapter – Tsuande was not on his team, lol. Hinata suggested talking to her since she is the Hokage, but also renowned for her medical knowledge. Kakashi was on his team, along with a few of Naruto's contemporaries, but only because he is one of my favorite characters, sorry if that disappoints anyone. And, yes, I'm aware that the plotline is a bit confusing, don't expect it to make sense yet. I would have added mystery as a third category, but I'm only allowed two. No one is entirely able to explain Naruto's memory loss, if I did that would be the end of the story, but don't worry I will explain it all before I'm through. Trust your fanfic author a bit, ok? shrugging my shoulders I also hate this chapter title, but I'm want to post it, so whatever . . . .


	3. I Give Up

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so please let me know what you think. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, possible other pairings – I haven't made up my mind on that score yet.

I've just gotten a beta-reader, Chelsea, so this is the updated/corrected chapter. Thanks so much Chelsea this story wouldn't be nearly as well written without her help.

Chapter 3 – I give up

Walking out of the Fifth's office, Naruto had to bite his tongue to avoid demanding the answers he wanted, deciding that strolling through the streets of Konoha might not be the smartest place for this discussion. Instead he kept a tight hold on Hinata's hand as he rushed her back to the apartment, unwilling to risk her running off on him or bumping into anyone who might ask awkward questions. To say that he was frustrated was a hell of an understatement. Going to see the old hag had merely frustrated him further. Not only did he not get the answers he was hoping for, but the meeting just raised even more questions and now he was off active duty.

"Naruto! Hinata . . . wait up!"

Their mixed reactions to Sakura's voice was very telling to anyone who might have been watching. Hinata winced slightly, while Naruto's face lit up. For the first time since he had started behaving so oddly, she saw the smile that she was so used to seeing on his face and it was in response to her. Mentally, the dark-haired kunoichi felt ashamed by her thoughts, but couldn't stem the sudden rush of jealousy and insecurity that raced through her at his visible excitement.

"Sakura-chan . . ." Hinata paled at hearing that effusive greeting and tuned out the rest of their conversation. This wasn't fair. Naruto remembered nothing of her, of them and their time together, but obviously he could remember his old infatuation with the pink-haired girl. In some dark corner of her mind, a remnant of her twelve-year-old self twiddled her thumbs, wondering if that meant something significant. She pulled away, almost folding in on herself, as Naruto seemed to forget that she was even standing there, while he enthusiastically embraced the surprised other girl. Suddenly it was like nine years ago, when he didn't know that she even existed and she was helpless to make him see her.

The thought of losing him now, after everything they had gone through just to be together, was unbearable. Wrapping her arms tightly around her waist, Hinata reminded herself that Sakura was a friend of hers now. The other girl was very happy, not to mention very involved with Lee, but she couldn't quite stifle her feelings of bitterness and that made her feel even more ashamed. Over his shoulder she saw Sakura look over at her puzzled, her eyes all but asking what was going on, but Hinata just shook her head, unable to force herself to go over and explain everything.

Ripping her eyes away from the couple (and the very thought made her feel ill), the blood in her veins turned to slowly moving ice when she saw Neji staring at them with an expression that she knew from experience only ever meant trouble. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he leaned against a nearby wall, an insolent smirk on his face. The news of what had happen to Naruto couldn't possibly be public knowledge yet, but it was clear to her that he suspected something and that was never a good sign. After the Chuunin competition, she had for one moment believed that there could finally be peace between them, but that hope had been shattered after the hunt for Sasuke. She had made the apparently unforgivable mistake of having gone to see him in the hospital, along with Kiba and Naruto, but was rushed out of the room by several medic-nins when he lunged at her from his sick bed, reopening his stitches.

Since that day, things had been growing worse than ever between her and her cousin. She held his gaze for a moment without flinching, defiantly trying to allay his suspicions, and thought for a moment that she had actually succeeded. Until he broke eye contact with her to pointedly glance over at Naruto and Sakura, before staring back at her with a knowing smirk that promised retribution. She felt a tug on her arm and turned, startled to see Naruto and Sakura both looking over at her in concern.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" Naruto's eyes narrowed as he read the distress in her eyes as she mutely shook her head and he quickly glanced past her, cursing under his breath. He moved past Hinata to take up a defensive position, even as he knew from the cloud of smoke in the distance that whoever had been there was long gone, while he scanned the area for any other possible threat. Turning back to her, he repeated his question. Slipping a gentle finger under her chin and tilting her face up to his, he cursed again when he saw the damage he'd been too late to notice.

He realized that he had let himself get too caught up in the moment of seeing Sakura and the extent that it had upset Hinata. Shaking his head, he bid a quick farewell to the confused girl and taking Hinata's hand, he began leading her back to the apartment, making sure this time to keep his guard up for whatever had startled her so badly. After a few minutes, when they were as alone as two people walking through the streets could be, Naruto tried to break the tension between them.

"Hinata?" His voice was more tentative than he had wanted and he winced slightly at the sound of it.

"Hmmm?" She was distracted, caught up in her own worries and fears. All she wanted was her life before this, whatever this was, happened. Before they had gone to see the Godaime, she had been concerned but confident in Tsunade's ability to repair whatever damage had been done to Naruto's memory. But now, she was at a loss and didn't know what she was supposed to do. If they couldn't figure out a way to recover his memory and if it didn't come back naturally, then what would happen? On top of that, ignoring Sakura and the slight twinge of insecurity her name inspired, she now had Neji and whatever he was scheming to deal with.

He felt his heart sink a little in his chest at her non-response. Fuck. He didn't know what was wrong with her, although he could make a guess or two, either of which would lay the blame solely on his shoulders. For the life of him he had absolutely no idea of how to go about trying to make her feel better and if she refused to talk to him then. . . damn, he didn't know what then. Sighing, he slowed their pace down slightly, hoping that by the time they arrived at the apartment, the words to make her feel better would miraculously occur to him.

* * *

So much for miracles, Naruto shook his head in frustration, kicking the door shut behind him. If anything, Hinata had seemed to further withdraw from him, and at this he was more than certain that it was definitely his fault. Unfortunately, he still couldn't figure out how to fix it. This sucked. They might be inside his apartment, but he felt distinctly out of his element. He normally worked out his differences with people like Sasuke, for instance, by sparring or fighting it out with them, and Sakura-chan would usually take matter into her own hands when she was upset with him. Neither tactic could he see helping with Hinata, and he was running out of ideas.

Releasing her, he let his hand fall limply at his side. "Ok, I give up. Whatever it was that I did or didn't do, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Hinata. So please scream at me, hit me, or do whatever it takes for you to forgive me. Just get it over with, ok?" He tightly shut his eyes, his head bowed as if bracing himself for whatever she decided that he deserved.

Twisting towards him, she raised her head slightly in confusion, "Nani?"

"Giving me the silent treatment for talking to Sakura," Naruto replied miserably, surprised that Hinata seemed intent on forcing an apology from him.

She closed her eyes briefly in realization. "Naruto . . . I really don't know what to say. At this moment, you don't really remember anything and I can't judge you or be mad at you for things you don't know and understand. Aside from that, Sakura is a friend, how could I want to punish you for stopping to talk to a friend? If that were the case or I made you feel that way, then it is I who owe you an apology."

Looking up at her in surprise, Naruto was uncharacteristically silent as he thought seriously about what she had just said. It was a rare occasion when he wasn't immediately accused of being the guilty party, and even more unusual when someone was willingly accepting the blame. He honestly wasn't sure what to make of Hinata at that moment. The questions he had been so ready to demand from her when they left Tsunade's office, fell away still unasked. This wasn't the right time. He knew that he'd have to get his answers soon, but interrogating her now just felt wrong.

"Don't worry about it, Hina-chan. It was my fault, but if you're not mad, then forget about it, ok?" His voice seemed overly loud to him in the small room, but he held back a soft sigh of relief as she looked back at him with a faint smile. What ever had happened, she had forgiven him, so he hadn't fucked up too badly and with that off his shoulders, he grabbed her hand and sat down on the couch, dragging her along with him.

* * *

After a painfully awkward silence of the two of them staring at each other, unwilling to initiate any form of conversation, Naruto had decided that ramen was always a safe topic and began rambling on about how much he loved it. Hinata was only listening with half an ear, because she couldn't get over the fact that he had called her Hina-chan. It was strange, the affectionate nickname just seemed to come so naturally to him that he didn't even notice, but to her it was a sign that perhaps his memories weren't as deeply buried as she had feared. Somehow she was just going to have to awaken the rest, although how she was going to do that and still follow the restrictions laid upon her by the Godaime . . . well, she hadn't quite figured that part out yet, but she was confident that she would find a way. Naruto-kun had always managed to come back to her, despite however dangerous or difficult a mission he had been assigned, so she refused to believe that he wouldn't come back to her this time.

TBC

Ok So that was the third chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me know that too and why. I've only recently discovered Naruto and I'm depending on you to let me know if they're OOC, or off in any other way.

Sorry for the delay and shortness of this chapter it would have been longer and poster earlier, but I ran into some technical difficulties (i.e. my computer decided to screw up), I've got the situation resolved somewhat, soon to be fixed completely, so hopefully I'll be able to finish the next chapter within the next week or so.


	4. Limitations

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so please let me know what you think. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, other pairings possible, but I haven't made up my mind on that score yet.

Chapter 4 - Limitations

Sitting on the couch, Naruto fingers tapped impatiently his leg, just sitting there was beginning to drive him a little crazy. For the life of him, he couldn't understand how Hinata was able to just sit there so calmly and very carefully talk around the situation. She was good, he had to admit and it took him awhile to figure out what she was doing, but now it was becoming little more than a glaring reminder. Glancing longingly outside the window, he estimated that it was maybe two or three in the afternoon . . . such a waste of a beautiful day.

"Ano . . . Naruto-kun, do you want to go outside?" Hinata asked, as she watched him staring out the window.

His eyes snapped to her, a wide grin across his face. "Hinata, you are brilliant!!! "Going outside to train is a great idea." He jumped, grabbed her hand and dragged her outside.

They were running and made it more than halfway to team 7's training grounds, before she managed to get a word in edgewise. "Ano . . . Naruto-kun, when I suggested going outside, I had meant going out for a walk or something. I don't know if going off to right now train would be the best thing to do."

"Are you crazy, Hinata? It's _always_ a good time to train." He pulled her hand tighter and as much as it was against her better judgment, she went along with him. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest choice, but she didn't want to crush his sudden burst of excitement and tried to rationalize it to herself, wondering how bad could it really be? In retrospect, she really should have known better then to even think such a question.

* * *

Amazed that she was still alive, Hinata pushed herself up to her hands and knees, biting her bottom lip when she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her side. One hand clamped onto her injury that was suspiciously warm, and she hissed softly, pressing the other down on the ground to help her stand up. Looking down she could see blood beginning to well up between her fingers and spill over them. "Damn," she mumbled.

"Hey . . . Hey Hinata, are you ok?" Off in the distance somewhere, she could faintly hear Naruto calling her name, his voice growing more frantic by the minute. Distantly she supposed that she should respond, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out at first. She silently sighed and began slowly walking towards the sound of his voice, carefully picking her way through the devastation caused by his Rasengan. A small smile crossed her lips as she watched him barrel though some wreckage of greenery just ahead of her and stop just a few feet in front of her, as she gave him a slight wave.

_"Little fox . . . little fox . . . hear the lull of forest and feel the silence_

_Think little fox of what you've lost before it's lost forever"_

Shaking his head, he opened his eyes, feeling somewhat dazed and stunned. He was leaning up against a tree, his arms braced on the ground behind him and his legs sprawled out in front of him. Quickly assessing himself, he didn't appear to be seriously or even slightly, for that matter, injured but something was definitely was wrong, if only he could remember . . . He raised a hand to his face and adjusted his forehead protector as he tried to figure out what the hell just happened. His eyelids fell momentarily, before shooting open in a panic – Hinata, where was Hinata? He sprung up to his feet, his eyes quickly scanning the area in front of him as he tried to remember.

It was slowly starting to come back to Naruto. He had wanted to show off a bit, so he decided to show Hinata his Rasengan, but he screwed up somehow. There has been too much energy, too much charka, built up too fast and he felt the seal – _his seal_ – begin to loosen and at that point, he knew it had become too dangerous to continue. But even as he tried to ease the power level down, rather then simply release it in what could be a devastating attack, he had lost control . . . And Hinata . . . oh gods, she had been standing directly in his line of sight, completely unprepared. He vaguely remembered fighting to regain enough control, trying to divert it elsewhere, but then it had all happened so unbelievably fast. With a growing sense of horror, he realized that when he had finally let it go, he couldn't be sure if he had missed her or not – he had absolutely no idea if had killed her or not and his heart skipped a long beat.

His limbs were stiff and his throat dry, but he forced himself forward nevertheless as he searched for her, not her body, he reminded himself, but her. Calling out her name, his voice sounded painfully harsh to his own ears and when she didn't immediately respond to him, Naruto automatically assumed the worst and felt sick. At best she was too incapacitated to yell back or, and he faltered for a second at the thought that she might be dead. Despite his most desperate fears that it might be true, he _refused_ to believe that, so he took off at a dead run in the direction he had last seen her, unconsciously bracing himself for whatever he might find.

Jumping over a downed tree, he landed in a clearing of sorts and his breath caught in his throat for a minute as he stared at her, miraculously standing in front of him. Despite being somewhat dusty, disheveled and definitely a little worse for wear, with some dirt smeared across one cheek, he was certain at _that moment_ that he had never seen anything quite so beautiful. His harsh breathing eased in chest and he had the oddest impulse to go up to her and wrap her up in his embrace and carry her off somewhere far from the village and anything or anyone that might threaten her. He paused, just looking at her – her tousled hair, soft and pale eyes set within a nearly translucent face – and he felt something inside of him suddenly spark to life.

The scene seemed to almost fade away only to be replaced by one that was so achingly familiar to him that the impact of it nearly drove him to his knees. It was Hinata, but not the woman he had so abruptly woken up next to, nor the young girl he remembered, but rather somewhere in between the two. Her somber expression breaking into a bright smile, before she ran towards him, throwing herself into his waiting arms and nearly knocking him off his feet. It was a bizarre sensation – Naruto knew it wasn't real. If he concentrated enough, then he could see the real Hinata standing in front of him, but at the same he could also feel her in his arms, as well as a score of aches and bruises covering his body that he knew he had not incurred that day.

In his ear, he could feel rather than actually hear her fierce whisper, "Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again!" As if to emphasize her words, she nipped his earlobe painfully for a moment, before pressing a quick kiss along his jaw line. Holding her slight body tightly against his own, he could feel himself start to respond to the feeling of her within his arms in a way that he would welcomed at any other time, if they weren't in public. Even more disconcerting were the words that began tumbling out of his mouth – reassuring promises of comfort and love. Over her shoulder, he could just make out a group of dimly lit figures crowding around them, congratulating him for passing the Jounin exam. Hinata shyly tried to step away from him, as people began moving closer and he felt an overwhelming sense of resentment at their intrusion. Despite his low charka reserves, he prepared to jump away, still holding her.

Naruto blinked at the sudden memory, if that's what it was, even as the scene began blending back into this reality and he realized that his arms were empty. Somewhere in the transition, he lost Hinata and he felt her sudden absence keenly, even if wasn't entirely logical. His eyes drifted closed, he tried to shake off whatever the hell was happening to him, because this wasn't the time to lose it all. There was a disturbance in the air that caught his attention as something approached his face and his hand shot out to painfully grab it.

Hinata gasped at the sudden pressure as she winced, but continued reaching forward until her hand could cup his face. "Naruto-kun . . . " If he squeezed her wrist any tighter, she was afraid that he might snap it. She felt him tense under her touch, even as his hold on her gentled and he slowly opened his eyes. Looking at her standing in front of him in what he couldn't convince himself was a fantasy, dream or a fragment from a past he couldn't remember, felt like a sudden punch to his stomach. Her lavender eyes were so full of concern for him, all the emotions from his memory began to grow again, but the words he had spoken faded into the darkness of his memory, leaving him with little to no frame of reference except for his emotions, which he wasn't even sure that he could trust anymore.

His hand slid a few inches down her forearm, revealing the dark bruises that already began to form along her inner wrist. Hinata's eyes flashed from the sight, just in time to catch the regret that crossed his face, as he lifted her arm up and leaned forward, brushing a feather light kiss along her bruised skin. "I'm sorry. The last thing I ever meant was to hurt _you_." His voice was faint and barely audible as he breathed into her ear as he drew her in for a quick hug. She bit her bottom lip against the pain, but Naruto must have felt her flinch, because placing his hands on her shoulders, he pushed back slightly to look her over and saw her holding her side. When he saw her bloodstained jacket and fingers, he cursed under his breath for a moment, any questions about his memory or what he had just experienced were deliberately pushed out of his mind. He had something far more important to deal with now.

"Naruto-kun," she began but placing a finger across her lips, he hushed her into silence, while he thought for a moment.

Without a second thought, he took off her jacket and carefully pulled her shirt away from her skin, before lifting it to see the damage. It wasn't as bad as he had feared, but was still bleeding too much for his liking. With one hand, he ripped a strip free from the bottom of his t-shirt and quickly wrapped it around her slender waist, but he only was able to loop it one and a half times, before he knotted it. Leaning back on his heels, he watched it began to bleed through and shook his head in frustration the growing dark stain all but making his decision for him as he stood up. One arm went high across her shoulders and the other caught her behind her knees and he swept her up into his arms, even as her surprised arms wound themselves tightly around his neck.

"Where are we going?" Her voice was breathy, despite her efforts to remain neutral.

"I'm taking you to the hospital. Your wound is bleeding too heavily and I was never particularly good at first aid."

"It's not that bad, Naruto-kun. Just take me back to the apartment and I'll take care of it."

"Nope. You're hurt and it's my fault, so that makes this my responsibility and I've decided to take you to the hospital." His voice was resolute and she found herself unwillingly relaxing in the familiar security of his arms. Looking up at him, the somber expression of his face broke for a moment and he quirked up a corner of his mouth in a slight smile. "Don't worry, Hina-chan. I've got you." She wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but somehow between the time they walked out to begin training and when she reached out to touch him, she'd gotten a little part of her Naruto-kun back. Despite her injury, Hinata couldn't hold back a small smile of her own.

* * *

Upon entering Konoha, they stayed mostly to the tops of buildings, Naruto jumping from one to other, while holding her tightly and yet somehow managing not to jar her injury at all. She briefly toyed again with suggesting that she walk along side him, but considering the raised eyebrow he had given her last time and the fact that she enjoyed being held by it, she shrugged it off. Why argue, when they were both apparently content with it? But since they had come into the town, he had gone silent and she knew that was never a particularly good sign. Waiting until they were on a roof, she slipped one hand from around his neck to touch his face, drawing his attention back down to her. "What's wrong?"

"Hmmm?"

She sighed. "Naruto-kun, I know you better than this. Why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Playing dumb obviously wasn't going to work. "Come on, Hinata. I hurt you. You told me not to train but I wanted to, so just I ignored you and you got hurt because of me." He paused, finally looking her in the eye and cutting her off when it looked like she about to speak. "I didn't listen to you and I'm sorry, Hina-chan." His blue eyes darkened to a nearly midnight blue shade that she knew from years of experience meant that he was feeling guilty and brooding over it. "I just don't know what the hell happened today. I've _never_ lost control of the Rasengan like that before, I swear."

Reaching up to run her hand through his hair, her smile grew a little wider. "Naruto-kun, I know that you didn't mean to hurt me. I know that, because I know _you_. But, the problem is that you remember your abilities the way they were nine years ago and since then, you've only grown stronger. You no longer know your limitations, which, I'm sure, is one of the reasons that Tsunade-sama took you off active duty. You need to remember or relearn your capabilities slowly and not just immediately jump into using your stronger skills."

He looked away from her, feeling ashamed. She didn't blame him and instead it looked like she actually forgave him, which just made him feel so much worse about loosing control. Whether or not she realized it, he easily could have killed her and he was all too aware of exactly how close he came to making that a stark reality. Ignoring the part about how much stronger he'd become, although he was on some level, dying to know how much, Naruto couldn't let go of the fact that this was his fault. As much as he'd like to believe what she was saying, it was his responsibility and hurting someone who couldn't or wouldn't fight back was terrible enough, but for it to be one of his precious people and Hinata specifically was intolerable.

She sighed, wherever was going on in his head, she knew he wasn't listening to her and she wasn't insulted, so much as frustrated. Hinata had seen him shut down like this before, but those rare occasions had always come about only after a mission where he had lost someone. Usually it was all she could do to just be there for him, when he finally broke down and allowed himself to grieve, but she would be damned before she allowed him to feel guilty over her. Despite what Naruto or anyone else for that matter might believe, she wasn't a fragile and helpless twelve-year-old girl anymore – she was a kunuchi and a Chunnin in her own right. Her hands slid down to his shoulders and she began to push, gently but firmly. "Naruto-kun . . . put me down, please."

"What? What are you talking about?" The look in his eyes and the slightly higher pitch of his voice eloquently expressed his confusion. Glancing at the stubbornness he could see on her face, he grudgingly acceded to her wishes and gently lowered her to the ground, but refused to let her go entirely, his hands resting on her hips. "If you think I'm going to let you walk to the hospital in your condition, then I hate to break it to you, but you're wrong, Hinata."

Adopting his tone, she stared him down. "I don't think you really have a say in what I do or don't do, Naruto. I am an adult, not to mention a medic-nin and I think I'm more than capable of assessing my own injuries."

"I'm not saying you're not, but Hinata . . ." and he paused to show her the soaked through makeshift bandage, "like it or not, you're still bleeding and moving around is only going to further aggravate it. So you're just going to have to put up with me carrying you for awhile longer." Smirking slightly, he caught her up in his arms before she could even try to refute his statement and continued on the way to the hospital.

She thought about continuing the argument, but considering that was the closest she had seen to a smile since they had found each other after he attempted the Rasengan, well she was willing to take what she could get. Shrugging her shoulders, she just held onto him and nestled her head against his chest, making herself comfortable. Hopefully once they got to the hospital, they'd bind her up quickly and she could go back to the apartment with Naruto and reassure him that she was just fine. Hinata knew that she really should have asserted herself more strongly, but she enjoyed being held by him and just relaxed.

TBC

Ok So that was the latest chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me know that too and why. I've only recently discovered Naruto and I'm depending on you to let me know if they're OOC, or off in any other way.

I've corrected a few spelling errors that were pointed out to me in a review. This chapter was supposed to be a bit longer, but lol – Naruto & Hinata refused to cooperate, so it will have to wait for the next chapter or one after that, we'll have to see. To answer one or two questions – yes, there was a past memory that popped up in this chapter and secondly back in the first chapter when Naruto 'saw' Hinata die that was a dream sequence, she is alive and well in the present, as well as in the past, obviously, otherwise this wouldn't be much of a story. Hopefully this clear up some confusion, although I'm aware that the whole memory loss thing is confusing, but as the story progresses, this too shall begin to make sense.


	5. Evasions and Secrets

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so please let me know what you think. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, other pairings possible, but I haven't made up my mind on that score yet.

Chapter 5 – Evasions and Secrets

Through the small glass window in the door, Hinata shook her head in rueful amusement as she watched Naruto pass the doorway at regular intervals as he paced back and forth in the hallway outside of her room. Every once in a while, he'd slow down long enough to peer through the opaque glass as if to reassure himself that she was still there and she had to smile, it was very sweet in a Naruto sort of way. This whole visit was still unnecessary in her mind, the nurse gave her a few sutures, but it was nothing more than what she would have done for herself anyway. But if it gave him peace of mind, well it was something that she was more than willing to put up with. In the mean time, she was content to make small talk with nurse, as she finished wrapping up her waist.

Finally free to leave, Hinata slipped on her shirt and grabbed her jacket, she stood up, thanking the nurse before she made her way out of the room. Opening the door she was immediately confronted by Naruto, who placed his hands on her shoulders, his blue eyes anxiously examining her. "Hina-chan, is everything ok?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun," her voice was gentle and tinged slightly with her amusement at his show of concern. "As I told you before, the injury was superficial, requiring only a few stitches." He relaxed upon hearing her words, flashing her a bright smile.

"Ah well, it never hurts getting an expert opinion and all." She faintly raised an eyebrow at him, as if to remind him that she was, in fact, a highly trained medic-nin, but he seemed oblivious to the irony of his statement. Stepping forward and slinging an arm causally around her shoulders, he began leading her out of the hospital. Hinata resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his high-handedness, understanding that he meant nothing by it except that it was his way of showing that he cared and regaining a measure of control. Shrugging her shoulders under his touch, she slid her arm around waist and walked out into the cool air with him.

Once outside, they began strolling down the street. Naruto was beginning to feel a little hungry and suggested that they head towards Ichiraku for lunch and with a fond smile she agreed.

"Hey Naruto! What you've got no time to say hi to your old friends now? "

They both turned around to see Lee running after them. "What are you talking about, fuzzy eyebrows?" Naruto pulled away from Hinata with an excited grin to greet him, while Hinata's eyes opened wide in realization.

For a brief unguarded moment, she had allowed herself to forget about what happened and to simply enjoy being with the person she loved. His behavior had been so reminiscent of the man she had spent the last few years of her life living with that she had actually managed to ignore his current condition. But Lee was yet another person totally unaware of what had happened to Naruto and she had no idea of what he might possibly say.

She abruptly moved to intercept him, but Lee deftly stepped around her with a questioning expression as he walked up to Naruto. With a quick but heartfelt sigh, she spun on her heel and placed a restraining hand on his green sleeve. "Ano, Lee-san, but this really isn't a good time to chat, Naruto-kun and I were just off to – "

"Lunch," Naruto cut her off, rushing through his words, "but you can definitely come with us, if you like?"

"Thanks for the invite, but Sakura-chan will kill me if I miss our date and then where will our next Hokage be without the beautiful green beast of Kohona?" Shaking off Hinata's hand, he stepped back and gave them both his nice guy pose. Hinata sharply inhaled as she glanced over to the blonde shinobi and saw confusion beginning to dawn across his face. She knew that she should've gone with her first impulse and silenced Lee before he had the chance to unknowingly disrupt the moment.

"Well, perhaps you should hurry and find her, before you're late, Lee-san," she suggested, gripping Naruto's hand tightly enough to draw his blue eyes to her. "Better early than late after all," when he didn't look entirely convinced, she quickly added, "I know, you could go over to the flower shop and but her some. I'm sure that she'd love them."

"Do you really think so?" He questioned her and she nodded somewhat desperately, praying he'd just go off, somewhere else, anywhere else. She was rewarded by a near blindingly white smile as he quickly bid them goodbye and ran off again. Relaxing in relief, she started back off to the ramen house, before they could bump into anyone else only to pulled up short by Naruto's unyielding grip on her hand and at that point she knew for a fact that she had over played her hand. Even with Naruto's infamous obliviousness upon occasion, it was far too much to hope for that he would have missed her urgency in distracting Lee. Turning back towards him with a sinking feeling, she weakly smiled at the suspicious glare into his blue eyes that were as cold as she had ever seen them directed at her before.

"Ok Hinata . . . start talking, " he bluntly demanded, his expression serious in a way that she had rarely seem him. She didn't trust herself to ask what he was talking about, instead tried to non-verbally plead ignorance, shrugging her shoulders in feigned confusion, but she could tell that he wasn't buying it. "Hinata . . ." he slowly drew out the syllables of her name in a way that was both reproachful and disappointed. She could feel herself cringing under the weight of his words and tone. Naruto stared her down for a moment, before sighing loudly.

"Oh come on Hina-chan don't look at me like that – it's not like I'm Neji or your dad for that matter." His voice broke and softened slightly as he looked at her hunched over and twiddling her fingers. He impatiently sighed when she merely lifted her eyes tentatively to meet his and his hand shot out to still the nervous fidgeting of her fingers.

"Ano, Naruto-kun, I'm sorry," she whispered so softly that he had to strain to hear her. Dammit, he wanted her to talk to him, to tell him what the hell was going on, not scare her into going mute on him. He studied her for a moment, his words having little to no effect that he could see and forced the air out of his lungs in a loud and audible hiss. Grabbing her hand, he led her unresisting figure along to the restaurant. Once inside, Naruto gently pushed her into a seat and ordered two bowls of ramen. In the awkward silence, he ran his hand roughly through his hair as he moodily stared at her, attempting for a change to think his words though, before blurting out the first thing on his mind. He grew frustrated when nothing came to him.

"Aw, come on, Hina-chan, give me a break. You know I'm not good at this kinda stuff," he looked up at her quickly to see if his words had any effect and was dismayed to see that they apparently hadn't. "I'm not mad at you, Hinata. I just wanna know whats going on. . . " His words trailed off and he propped his hand up on his chin as he stared out past the silent, dark haired girl. Naruto was tired and frustrated, not so because of Hinata but at the situation he found himself in. He hated being helpless and being dependant on anyone else, even someone as sweet as the girl in front of him. This situation was fucked up enough without everyone around him withholding vital information, how the hell was he _supposed_ to react.

"Lee-san was referring to the fact that Tsunade-sama publicly announced you as her successor when she steps down in the New Year." Naruto's eyes darted to her as she began speaking in a very quiet and barely audible voice. Palms flat against the table, her eyes refusing to meet his as she forced herself to tell him. "I didn't see fit to mention it earlier because I had hoped that we've would have resolved your memory loss by now. Until it's recovered, I don't how or if that will change the situation."

"What?!?" He gasped out, staggered by that little bomb and just thankful that he was sitting down. "The old hag really wants me to be the next hokage?" Saying that he was amazed was an insane understatement. This was the single goal that he had set for himself for as long as he could remember and despite years of proclaiming it to everyone in listening range, there had always been a small corner of his mind that never believed that it would come to pass. She silently nodded her head and was startled when he jumped to his feet, reached across the table and pulled her up along with him.

"This is the best, Hina-chan!" He gave her a foxy grin, but as much as she wanted to allow herself to be swept along with his excitement, she was all too conscious of the sobering fact that unless they were able to find a way to cure his memory loss, it might not become a reality. Even as he embraced her and swung her around in his arms, she bit her lower lip waiting for the realization to hit. This was exactly why she had delayed in telling him. After a painful long moment for her, he slowed down and lowered her back down to the ground, his arms clutching her convulsively tight against him and she knew that he understood.

"I get it now – the thing with fuzzy eyebrows. You were just trying to protect me, weren't you?" His voice was low and muffled by her cloud of hair. This was what she had been afraid of and drawing in a deep breath, she tried to soothe him, rubbing a calming hand across his back. "No one's ever really tried to do that before Hina-chan, but," and he pulled back to face her with his usually cocky grin, "you don't have to worry about me. I've never let anyone or anything stop me from keeping my promises and I promise you, I will become the sixth hokage." Lavender eyes stared into blue and taking his lead, she smiled back at him. If she caught the faint hint of uncertainty in his eyes that anyone else would have missed and he saw the slight tremor in the tremulous curve of her lips, then they mutually agreed to let them pass unmentioned.

* * *

While walking back to their apartment, Hinata made the decision that Tsuande's idea of not telling Naruto what had transpired during the period of time that he couldn't remember was not only impractical but possibly dangerous and instead she began thinking of ways to break the truth to him. It was just so hard trying to judge what was safe to tell him and how to do gently enough given his current condition, especially when they still didn't know what caused it. The situation was unstable enough, the last thing she wanted to do was to make it any worse.

Not to mention the fact that in telling Naruto the truth, she might be seen as actively acting against the Hokage, but in her defense, she couldn't see any way to fulfill Tsunade-sama's request without completely isolating him completely from everyone else and that would only raise further questions. A distant corner of her mind wondered if this had been the Fifth's intention all along, because that would go far in explaining the near impossibility in pulling this off secretly and might well suit the older woman's long known ambition of pushing her and Naruto closer together. Hinata quickly silenced that small but hopeful voice, refusing to allow wild speculations to justify what she was doing. If she was going to do this, she was resolved that she would do it with her eyes open wide, fully aware of the possible repercussions.

Entering the apartment, she dropped the keys onto a low table, before she slumped down in a nearby chair. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he watched her, somewhere along the way, she'd gone quiet, drifting inside of herself, and he'd had just about enough of it. "Ok, Hinata. There is obviously something on your mind, so why don't you just tell me?" His voice was low and serious, as he turned his question into a soft demand. Perhaps he was unfairly playing on her affection for him, but he rationalized his manipulation by reminding himself that they needed to clear the air and that out of everyone he had encountered thus far, she was the one most likely to tell him the truth.

Swallowing reflexively, she took a deep breath, before she closed her eyes. Once she began her tale, there would be no turning back, she only hoped that she would have the strength needed to see this through to the end, whatever that might be. Her jaw tightened almost imperceptibly and sighing, she began telling him a condensed version of history of what had transpired since that long ago genin mission to retrieve Sasuke. Her voice was barely more than a whisper that grew stronger and steadier as the years passed in her account. Hinata was very careful to include only pertinent facts in the most bared bones fashion she could think of, leaving it to him to ask any questions he deemed necessary. And their discussion lasted far into the night.

TBC

Ok So that was the latest chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me know that too and why. I've only recently discovered Naruto and I'm depending on you to let me know if they're OOC, or off in any other way.

I've corrected a few spelling errors that were pointed out to me in a review. This chapter was supposed to be a bit longer, but lol – Naruto & Hinata refused to cooperate, so it will have to wait for the next chapter or one after that, we'll have to see.


	6. Sudden Revelations

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so please let me know what you think. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, other pairings possible, but I haven't made up my mind on that score yet. I understand that the updates are coming as fast as some of you may like, but I'm also writing 2 others stories as well, so you can expect an update every other month or so, if I can get the chapter out faster, I will, but I don't want you to think that I've abandoned this story.

Chapter 6 - Sudden Revelations

As she finished, the room drifted into a heavy silence. Hinata watched him anxiously for some reaction . . . she'd take any reaction at this point, but he was quiet and almost painfully still. Naruto knew that she was waiting for him to respond, but he was too overwhelmed by everything she had told him. He had honestly expected his memory to return in a rush like waterfall as she began talking about his life, but there was nothing – no spark, no trigger. Instead it was like listening to a story of someone's life that just happened to involve people he knew, but nothing that had any meaning or relevance to him

The tense quiet of the room reminded Hinata of the oppressive atmosphere all too prevalent in the Hyuga complex and for the first time in years, she felt so much like that helpless girl she once was. Self-doubt slowly crept in. Perhaps this had a mistake, maybe she had thrown too much history too fast, but if so then it was already too late, the damage had been done and she couldn't exactly take it all back now. He looked so lost, so very alone. In that moment reminding her of the little boy he had been just sitting by himself on the swing, after the disaster that had been their academy exam. She was afraid of compounding her error by suddenly smothering him, so she curled her fingers around the edges of the chair to physically restrain herself from hugging him.

As if sensing her inner turmoil, his chin suddenly rose off his chest in a jerky motion to stare at her. His expressive was pensive, before one corner of his mouth rose slightly into something vaguely resembling a smile. Anyone else who only knew him causally might have even believed it, but the painful emptiness in his eyes hit her hard. There was very little she wouldn't give to just make this all go away and the fact that she couldn't was tearing her apart inside.

Meeting her overly bright eyes, he sighed. This wasn't really getting them anywhere. The entire situation was just fucked up and as frustrated as he was, in an odd way he almost felt like he was beginning to cope with everything. Losing his memory was just the latest in series of impossible realities of life that he had been dealt, but it was clear that Hinata had no idea how to handle this and he wasn't sure how to help her. Standing up, he reached out his hand to snag her forearm as he pulled her to her feet. Surprised, she tried to overbalance and fell into him.

Instinctively, his arms wrapped around her, catching her in his embrace. Stumbling, she braced herself against his chest and lifting her head, she was more than startled to realize her face mere inches away from his and froze. Naruto felt himself growing warm as he stared at her moist and full lips half-open in a gasp, with an effort he tore his eyes up and away, only to feel as if he was falling into the pale lavender of her eyes. His arms tightened fractionally, pulling her more fully against his body.

Caught up in the moment, Hinata's breath hitched in her throat and unconsciously she tilted her head a shade to the left and rose slightly on her toes. Watching her slow approach, he knew that he should say something or step back, but despite his best intentions, he did neither. Instead he stood still, barely breathing, waiting to see what she would do. Leaning towards him, she brushed her mouth against his in a light and almost chaste kiss, but there was nothing innocent about his reaction. The moment she touched her lips to his, he was lost to the sensation and it was a sudden revelation for him. The only person he could remember kissing was Sasuke and that hardly counted, but this . . . This was like nothing he'd ever known and yet it felt so right, like something he had done a million times before and wanted to do a million more.

For her part, Hinata, finally felt back at home, wrapped up in his arms and she never wanted to leave. She opened her mouth slightly and her tongue darted out to gently tease the seam of his lips, coaxing them open. Naruto reacted explosively, one hand resting on the delicate curve of her lower back, the other curled around the nape of her neck, gently gathering her hair into a clenched fist as he held her to him, even as his mouth slanted fiercely across hers. Biting back a low moan, he quickly took control, claiming her mouth a hard and demanding kiss. She could feel a languid heat pooling in her belly, as her hands slid up to his shoulders and she clung to him for support.

Holding her to him, half carrying and half walking, he led her up against the nearest wall, one leg sliding between hers without breaking the kiss. Between the wall against her back and the obvious pressure of him leaning into her _right there_, Hinata took a deep breath, before she forced herself to push him away slightly. Her breathing was shallow as her eyes fluttered open, holding him not even an arms-breath away from her. The sheer intensity of his sapphire eyes staring into hers sent shivers down her spine as he tilted his head so that his bangs hung low against her face. Their lower bodies were still in intimate contact and he rubbed his leg between hers, leaving her gasping lightly, seared by the heated friction.

It would be so easy to let herself give into, to let herself forget, to be selfish for just for one moment, because despite how he was acting, he didn't know what he was doing. He couldn't possibly. And if she let this continue any further, who knows where it would go? "Naruto, we have to stop," she breathed out the words, but if he heard her, then he chose to ignore her. His head fell lower, his lips sliding across the curve of her throat, before sharply sinking his teeth where her shoulder ended and her neck began. Hinata bit her lower lip, feeling literally boneless as she arched helplessly, her head tilting to grant him further access.

Naruto had heard her voice, but whatever she said was overpowered by the sound of the blood rushing through him. He felt dangerously out of control, running on pure instinct and reveling in it. Somehow this had gone from trying to comfort her to something very different and while a small part of him was appalled by what was happening, the rest of him was caught up in the glorious sensations. Nothing mattered more right now than the taste of her, the feel of her hands on him and her warm, lithe body pinned against his. He was lost, he knew it, but didn't even care anymore.

His hands slipped down to take hold of her thighs and he lifted her against him and following his lead, she wrapped her legs around his waist. Once he had her secure in his arms, he carried her over to the bed. His leg hit the edge and placing one knee on it, he lowered her and quickly covered her body with his own. His hands fell to her waist and began edging under her shirt, when they both heard the sudden pounding at the door. Hinata tried to prop herself up her elbows, but he held her down. "Ignore it and they'll give up," his breath was moist and hot against the delicate shell of her ear.

"I know you're in there, Naruto, and I'm not going to go away until I talk to you. Oh and just to let you know, if you were planning on waiting me out or trying to sneak out, I have nothing better to do tonight."

Above her, Hinata could feel the tension in him. She felt rather than heard the nearly inaudible, "fuck," just below her ear, the invective harsh against her skin. He pushed himself off of her on stiff arms, flipping himself on his back, then rolled off the bed and onto his feet. He stared at her moodily for a long moment as if he was going to change his mind. The banging resumed again and he muttered, "fucking Kakashi." She propped herself into a sitting position, before he spun around, stalking over towards the door.

"What the fuck do you want?" Naruto demanded, nearly pulling the door off the hinges in his fury as he jerked it open.

"Yo!" The Jounin leaning against the doorframe casually looked up at the younger man. He had one hand raised in a greeting, while smoothly pocketed his latest copy of Ichi Ichi Paradise in the other, and strolled into the room. His deceptively lazy eye quickly surveyed the room, glancing over at the light flush blooming across Hinata's cheeks, before landing on the obviously irate face of his former student. The slight gleam of humor in his grey eye was the only indication of the smirk that was likely hidden away by his mask. "I'm sorry. Was this an inconvenient time?" His voice was dry, but the barely audible overtone of sarcasm must have betrayed his amusement, judging from the low snarl coming from Naruto's direction. He then proceeded to make himself comfortable in the nearest chair, clearly not planning to leave anytime soon.

"You haven't answered my question yet. What do you want?" The blonde ran an impatient hand through his already messy hair as he strode across the room and pulled a chair out opposite the intruder, subtly blocking his view of Hinata still sitting on the bed.

"I haven't?" Kakashi mockingly asked. Leaning past the death glare, he looked over the still blushing girl. "Hi, Hinata, I can hardly see over there."

"Kakashi!"

Hinata didn't need to use her Byakugan to see the smirk on the copy-nin's face after Naruto's growl as she all but threw herself across the bed trying to hold down his shoulders and keep him in the chair so he wouldn't attempt to strangle the other man. "Naruto-kun, you must calm down. He is_ trying_ to incite you and you're playing right into it." She whispered in his ear, hoping to relax him a bit, but holding no illusions that the other man wouldn't hear.

Kakashi laughed. "Those Hyuga, Naruto," he shook his head. "I warned you that she would keep you on your toes and apparently I was right."

"Enough of this shit, Kakashi!" He was growling at this point and she could feel him vibrating under her fingers, his ki rapidly rising to envelope them both. "What do you want?"

The amusement abruptly drained off the older man's face and it seemed like all the heat in the room had suddenly leached away. Hinata found herself unconsciously curling closer to Naruto, feeling the uneasy tension that had fallen in the room. As if to reassure her, Naruto wound one arm around the back of the chair to rest along the outside of her thigh.

"We need to talk about what happened when you faced Sasuke, Naruto. The time for playing childish games is over - you can't protect him any longer. He must come back to face charges as a missing-nin and if you won't get serious with him, then I'll be forced to bring him to heel." He bit off his words, coldly and enunciating each word as he stared down his former student.

Naruto shook off Hinata's touch as if it was nothing as he exploded out of his seat in a fury. "I don't know what the _fuck_ you're talking about. I told you that I can't _remember_." He stood in front of the silver haired jounin, fists clenched tight enough that his knuckles turned white.

Kakashi met the rage emanating from Naruto's narrowed blue eyes, with an apparent calmness that set Hinata on edge. She hesitantly stood up and began walking towards Naruto's back, only to stop when Kakashi's iron grey glance landed on her and he shook his head slightly at her, before refocusing back on the man breathing roughly in front of him. "Can't or won't?" He taunted, muscles tensed as he waited to see what reaction _that_ question would provoke.

Despite the growing anger he saw in his former student, it still wasn't enough - something was missing. Considering all the stresses placed on Naruto lately and the charka level he was generating, Kakashi was surprised that the nine tails hadn't made an appearance yet. That was a serious concern and making the situation worse, Naruto seemed rather obvious to it. Short of outright attacking either of them, he was beginning to run short of ideas that might incite Naruto into enough of a rage to trigger the Kyubi.

He leaned back into his chair, surveying them once again and wishing not for the first time that he had a better handle on what was going on. He thought about asking Naruto directly, but then there was the added complication of Hinata. While Kakashi was aware that she knew about and accepted Naruto's seal and all that entailed, he couldn't be sure if she he had thought to tell him that. Given Naruto's current state of mind, revealing the truth about the nine tails might very well panic his thirteen year old consciousness and if Kyubi appeared under those circumstance, Naruto would likely lose complete control . . . Kakashi didn't even want to imagine the level of destruction he could easily wrought in that condition. Over the years since the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke, Naruto's ability and sheer strength had far out-striped anyone's expectations and with or without the Kyubi, he was extremely formidable. .

"Hinata, would you mind terribly if I spoke to Naruto alone?" He ignored the fuming young man in front of him.

"Ano . . . " She hesitantly glanced first at him, then at Naruto who had turned around to face her.

"You don't have to listen to _him_, Hina-chan."

Beneath Kakashi's mask, he winced slightly at derision he could hear in Naruto's voice, but he didn't reveal his reaction as he continued to encourage her to leave them. "I only need a few minutes." She nodded slightly in understanding and looking at Naruto with an apologetic expression, before she slipped past him and quietly walked to the door.

She paused with the door open, "I'll just be outside, Naruto-kun." Her hushed tone was barely audible across the room, before she firmly closed the door behind her.

* * *

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he stared at Kakashi, his charka flaring bright blue rising even higher. "Enough with this shit, _sensei_," he bit out sarcastically. "Tell me whatever the fuck the old hag sent you here for and get the fuck out!"

The silver haired Jounin sighed loudly, before he stood up deceptively casual. "Naruto, I need to know what Hinata told you"

"Not a damn thing . . ."

Kakashi shook his head wearily. "We aren't going to get very far if you continue to impede our progress, Naruto and lying to me is only going to make things worse. You know I wouldn't be here if this wasn't important."

"Oh please, just give it up. You want to know about Sasuke, your precious student and you don't give a damn about me!"

Naruto's bitter words were a painful reminder to Kakashi, who ran his hand through his hair mentally castigating himself. In retrospect, he really should have expected this, but it had been so long and something that once they had worked it out, he had wanted nothing more than to forget. After a short but fairly destructive fight, he finally been able to explain about Obito and the overwhelming responsibility he had felt towards Sasuke. Contrary to Naruto's fears, it wasn't a matter of the Kyubi or some fault or lack in him, but rather Kakashi's last chance to right a wrong from his own past. Besides, he was the only one capable of teaching Sasuke the use of his Sharington. He realized that if he was going to get anywhere with Naruto, they'd have to go through this 'discussion' again, not something he was looking forward to, but it was a necessity. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi began talking, when he was finally finished, he waited for Naruto's response. He didn't have to wait long.

Naruto stared at the floor for a moment, the wind taken entirely out of his sails. He hadn't know, after all how could he? "I think that I get it, but why didn't you just tell me? Why did you let me think it was me?"

The older man shrugged his shoulders. "It never occurred to me that you would think it was your fault." He paused for a moment, searching for the words to express his thoughts. "You've got to understand, since the war, I've pretty much been on my own, I never expected or wanted to be on a team again. I worked alone, completing hundreds of solitary mission, because I didn't want to responsibility of other people's lives. When the Sandaime choose me to lead team 7, it was as much as for me as it was for all of you. I told you once that all of my precious people were dead and for a long time that was true. After everything that had happened, I didn't want to let anyone get that close to me, so the 3rd put me in a position where I wouldn't be able to refuse."

"By giving you Sasuke on your team." Naruto nodded knowingly, as it all began to make sense to him.

So naturally he was confused when Kakashi sardonically laughed. "No, Sasuke was almost the deal breaker actually. He was only a distant relation of Obito and the last thing I ever wanted was to get involved with the Uchiha clan again. No, Naruto, you were the reason I couldn't just walk away and fail your team as much as I wanted to."

The blonde looked resigned. "Because of the nine tails."

"Only indirectly really. No, I _owed_ you, Naruto, you and your father. Regardless of the Kyubi, it was the very least that I could do."

"What?" Naruto's eyes nearly popped open. He had long ago given up asking about his parents, because no matter it didn't matter who he asked, he had never gotten a real answer. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that it was best to just not ask. "What are you saying, Kakashi? Do you know who my parents are?" His voice was hoarse with repressed emotion.

The hope overlaid with an almost desperately wary skepticism was a painful blow for the older man. "Yes. Your father was my teacher when I started as a gennin, just like I taught you." He watched as the clear sapphire blue of Naruto's eyes darkened into a shade that viscerally reminded him of a violent ocean storm he had seen once years ago and he had to fight the urge to flinch against the condemnation he could see within them. "Yes, you're father was the 4th."

"And my mother?" Naruto demanded.

"She died soon after you were born." The expression on his face must have been obvious, because Kakashi was quick to add, "No, it wasn't a matter of complications. She died as the result of an assassin's blade. "

"How the hell did that happen?" He looked up, demanding an explanation, but Kakashi was obviously reluctant to continue.

"The assassin was one of the Sound, sent by Orochimaru to kill you. Under normal circumstances your mother would have easily took him, but she was weak from childbirth and your father was on the battlefield. He didn't know what had happened for hours. Your mother got between you and the assassin's blade, she stopped him, but died in the process."

"Why didn't you tell me before? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Naruto felt something inside him breaking. One level he was beyond being thrilled, finally he knew who his parents were, he was the son of the Yondaime, his father was a hero, but at the same he was the reason his mother was dead. And on top of everything else, he felt a betrayal that cut him to the bone.

How could Kakashi, Iruka, the 3rd, everyone how could they have kept something this monumental from him? Wasn't it enough that he had grown up outcast and hated by the majority of the village and had the thrice-damned nine tails demon sealed within his body, but to have been denied the knowledge of his heritage? It was too much. Naruto wanted, no, he needed to lash out, to express himself in the only way that occurred to him at this moment. He stood up with deadly intent, his charka levels exploding as he began to form a ball of energy necessary for the Rasengan.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, generating this kind of power, Naruto could easily take out half of the village and it was still growing stronger. Using a jutsu is what Naruto would expect and be looking for, so if he moved to start forming a seal, Kakashi doubted that he'd have time to finish. He quickly analyzed his options, knowing he had to subdue Naruto quickly and preferably without destroying his apartment, which pretty much limited him to straight taijutsu at this point. Even as he made that decision, he had already launched himself into close combat and effectively knocked Naruto to the floor.

"Goddammit, Naruto! Get a grip and for once in your life, _think_ before you act, before I have to knock some sense into you. If you still want to try and kill me when this is all over, then I'll give you your shot outside of the village, instead of taking how many innocents with us? And remember even if you do want me dead, Hinata is just outside. If you bring this building down, then you bring it down on her head, is that something you're prepared to do?"

Pushing himself up on the floor, Naruto snarled. "You fucking bastard. . ." His fists clenched at his side as he glared bitterly across the room. "You're just like the rest of them," one arm shot out in a wide sweeping gesture, encompassing the room. "You had no fucking right to keep the names of my parents from me, none of you."

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair as he faced Naruto's eyes and thirteen years of built up frustration and anger steadily. "I understand where you're coming from, Naruto, but I swear to you that it wasn't like that." His normally calm voice was impassioned, infused with a certain intensity that was reserved for life or death situations. "Just like the secret of the Kyubi, those of us who knew were all sworn to secrecy, not to hurt you, but to protect you. To give you the chance to stay alive until you were old enough to defend yourself. Your father was great man, the greatest I've ever known, but he had extremely powerful enemies as well, Orochimaru ranking high among them."

"Anyone who was on the battlefield knew that the nine tails was sealed within you, too many people saw it happen to keep that information confined to Kohona, but almost no one knew who you were. It still is the most fiercely guarded secret of the village."

"Who knows?" Naruto's voice was still violently low, but some of the tension seemed to have faded away.

"The only people still alive are me and Jiraiya, although the 3rd knew before his death and I'm sure that Tsunade now knows as the Hokage. Anyone else would have had to have learned from you, but I don't think you told anyone, even Hinata."

"Wait – what do you mean I could have told someone?" Confused his face lost that very dangerous cast that marked him beyond his years.

"I told you the truth years ago, when you were prepared to handle it. It's like I said, this wasn't kept from you as some sort of punishment, but to protect you. Once you were old enough, I told you." Naruto cocked his head to the side for a long moment, trying to process what the older man had told him, before it really hit him. Almost bonelessly he slipped back into the chair, his head falling into his hands.

"I . . . . I don't understand. If I was ready before, then what makes me so ready now? Why are you telling me this now?" The quiet and mistrustful tone of his voice was in some way even worse than the anger of before and Kakashi sighed.

"Because whatever you think you remember, however everything may appear to you - you're not a twelve year old kid, anymore, Naruto. This is just another thing that you know, but have forgotten. And to be honest, we have more important problems to deal with." It was as if it took a moment for that last statement to sink in, before Naruto suddenly raised his head, his blue eyes questioning.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hinata's fingers plucked almost convulsively at the nearly sheer fabric of shirt, wishing not for the first time that she had thought to grab a jacket or extra shirt as she walked out of the room. Standing outside Naruto's building in the cool night air, she quickly wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to conserve body heat. If she tilted her head back, she could just make out the light dimly shining from the window in Naruto's room. After a moment, she sat down on the curb and pulled her legs up tight against her chest, her head resting on her knees as her blue-black hair hung around her face, obscuring her expression.

"Typical Hinata-sama . . . always on the outside, always all alone . . . "

She froze, recognizing all too well that particularly acidic voice, before consciously relaxing herself, physically at least. It was probably too late to convince him that nothing was wrong, but at least she wouldn't give him any more of an advantage over her. "What do you want, Neji?" She spoke without looking at him, forcing a harsh note in her voice that hopefully masked her sense of bone deep weariness. Hinata felt rather than heard the steady pace as he approached, even as willed him to go somewhere else, anywhere else. She didn't know what he wanted and to be honest she really didn't want to know.

"Sitting outside like a child being punished, some things never change, I see. Have you no shame?" He taunted her with an air of almost casual cruelty. Staring down at her, he observed her attempt to ignore him and he swiftly kicked into her side, not hard enough to cause any serious injury and he smirked, watching her hands reflexively hit the pavement as she fell to the ground. "After all these years, even you should be able to stand on your own feet. You are an embarrassment to the Hyuga clan and this village."

Although she managed to keep herself from sprawling face first in the road, Hinata could feel the red abrasions forming on her palms even as pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, before springing up to her feet. Dusting herself off slightly, she paid not attention to the pain in her hands. Short of running away, which she refused to do or engaging him in outright combat, which she would prefer not to have to do, ignoring Neji was the only way to deal with him, but he was beginning to try even her nearly infinite amount of patience. Anyone else would have fought back or at least made the effort of putting him in his place, but considering the circumstances under which she had moved out the Hyuga complex, she was more concerned with avoiding her family than the appearance of her own pride.

"Don't think for one moment that you can afford to ignore me . . . Hinata-sama." Neji reached from behind and spun her around to face him, his voice dripping with derision. Standing nearly foot taller than her, he used every intimidating inch to its full advantage, as he stared her down – his iron hard eyes locking with her soft silver ones.

She broke eye contact first, sighing. "Since, you refuse to leave, why don't you just get it over with and tell me what do you want, Neji?"

"From you?" He scoffed, bitterly laughing. "You have nothing that I would _ever_ want." At that point, she did look up at him with an almost pitying look in her eyes that infuriated him. A split second later, he had her arm painfully twisted around her back, forcing her body into an arch that left her head all but resting against she shoulder. His smirk grew a shade wider as he enjoyed the faint gasp of pain that she couldn't quite suppress. Underneath his fingers, he could feel the tremor of muscles through her soft skin and his grip tightened fractionally as he toyed with the idea of snapping her arm and sending her falling to her knees at his feet, where she rightfully belonged.

Just before the temptation grew too great for him to resist, he forced himself to release her and instead sent her spinning off to his left, crashing into the reinforced concrete of Naruto's building. Tilting his head slightly, he saw one raw hand reach up to cradle her bruised shoulder, even as her eyes grew wide under his examination. Without thinking about it, he took two long strides towards her, suddenly trapping her between his body and the wall at her back. His gaze fell to her lips as they parted and when she noticed him staring she unconsciously bite her full lower one.

Hinata knew that she was in a precarious position at best. Neji was acting . . . odd, even for him and this made him dangerously unpredictable. Standing as close as he was left her very few options, there was no room left to maneuver within and even less to retreat. At this range if they were to engage in combat, she would be a distinct disadvantage, aside from the obvious fact that he was a jounin, while she was still only a chuunin. She knew that she needed to figure out a way to deescalate this situation right now, before anything else happened. So when he stepped back, she was relieved and more than a bit wary.

The Hyuga genius sighed, half turning away her and was annoyed when he could still smell the faint lavender hint of her perfume. Shaking his head to clear it, he waited to see if she would run away from him. To his extreme consternation, aside from moving away from the wall and taking a few more steps away from him, Hinata held her ground, refusing to give way. She stood loosely, not quite in a battle stance, but certainly combat ready if it came down to it.

Neji watched in disbelief as she took a deep breath and from some deep well of strength inside of herself she summoned an aura of calm seemed to surround her. It was an abrupt flashback to their prelim fight in the chuunin exam, she was suddenly relaxed and ready to flow with whatever action he might initiate. Her arms in front of her waiting to defend or attack, her center of gravity balanced to sway and dodge, her knees causally bent in case she might need to take a step or spring forward and her face. The mere suggestion that she thought that was his equal absolutely infuriated him.

Her beautiful, but treacherous face was unblemished by scars or seals and so damn serenely at peace, in direct opposition to his emotions and thoughts that seemed wildly erratic and he could almost feel them beginning to consume him. How dare she think for even one moment that she was worthy to fight him, never mind believe that she actually had a chance to win? At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to shatter that serenity, to leave her wasted and broken in the street.

"I know you wouldn't deign to be here without a reason, Neji, so tell me or leave." She met his gaze head on, before coolly shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not going to ask you again." Her voice was restrained and composed, her words even and measured. Try as he might, he couldn't read anything more into her and it was frustrating as hell.

Standing there under his minute scrutiny, Hinata felt very much on display – being judged and despite her best efforts still found wanting. It was an uncomfortable reminder of her past. She was ready to turn around and walk back into the building when he finally spoke.

"Your presence has been requested at the main house." His voice was low, but she could still hear the pleased satisfaction that he didn't bother to hide. Her lavender eyes went wide and as her pupils suddenly dilated, they washed out to a pale shade of barely there grey. Her skin went chalky and he could see her ribs rapidly contract and expand, as if she was beginning to hyperventilate. Neji didn't need to use his Byakugan to know that she was panicking, for a moment he wasn't sure what he was feeling. On one hand, it was a relief to finally have the upper hand again, but the fact that it took a threat from the family to bring her to heel was somewhat galling.

For her part, Hinata felt a sudden rush of cold that started low at the small of her back running all the way up spine, sinuously following every curve and leaving an icy trail in it's wake. Her thought process seemed to almost break away from her body and she could feel herself struggling for every breath. In a dark and distant corner of her mind she realized, with a clinical detachment that under other circumstances might have disturbed her given her medic-nin training, that she was going into shock. The petite dark-haired kunoichi desperately wanted to believe that her cousin was just taunting her, striking blindly, searching for a weak point to exploit, but that note of satisfaction and maybe even eagerness in his voice was the very proof that she needed to deny.

She had been afraid of this day for longer than she could remember - the intense fear was like an ever-present companion. For a time, Naruto had cast it into the shadows with the sheer brilliance of his personality, but with everything that had happened . . . It was her turn to take care of him, just as he had taken care of her for all these years. The question was how could she protect him best - standing against her family to be at his side and likely bringing the full wrath of her clan down upon them both or leave, giving her family what they wanted and setting him free.

Neji was watching her, his eyes lit up with an inner fire that seemed to see into her soul . . . "Let him go Hinata, set him free. This," he waved carelessly towards Naruto's building, "has gone on long enough, you know your place in this would. It's time to return home."

TBC

Ok, so that was the latest chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me know that too and why. I've only recently discovered Naruto and I'm depending on you to let me know if they're OOC, terribly misspelled (I keep finding different spellings for everything lately, so I'm trying to pull them from only one source now – hopefully it's correct) or off in any other way.

I've corrected a few spelling errors that were pointed out to me in a review. This was the longest chapter I've ever written for any story, for once I couldn't stop writing it, hopefully it meets your approval.

Lastly, I'd just really like to thanks for all the reviews. My last chapter for my other story was all but ignored, which threw my confidence a bit, but every time I was ready to stop writing this chapter I got another wonderful review, without all of you, this chapter might have taken much longer. Thanks again.


	7. Tonight Tomorrow

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. It's been forever,I know but between house fires, losing every possession ever owned, broken ankles, fighting with the insurance company, having no computer access, hotel rooms & living in a damn rental house (still living in a damn rental house) . . . well, i've been having serious fucking issues. i haven't given up on any of my stories, but once i get a computer (hopefully soon) this will get back on a regular scheduale

* * *

Home. The word reverberated in her head. Home is where the heart is and for years, Hinata's home had been here with Naruto. The place where she had grown up, where Neji wanted her to return was anything but home, or rather it was a place of painful repression and a near deadening sense of isolation. The thought of going back there made her physically feel ill, the very idea of going back to stay was unbearable - she had might as well slit her own throat, it at least would be a kinder death. 

Glancing towards the doorway into the building, she faltered for a moment almost going down. It was as if her knees suddenly lacked the strength to support her under all this strain. Neji was quick to reach out, his hand stretching for her arm, but she evaded him, her movements slow and clumsy but effectively keeping her out danger for the moment. Her eyes flickered again to the open doorway, sanctuary lay that way, but she wasn't sure that she had the strength to make it on her own. It was true that she wasn't the cowed child she had once been, but for so long she had grown safe in the knowledge that no matter what happened that she had someone who knew and believed in her. Finding herself abruptly lacking that left her confidence shattered.

"Enough delays. It's time to go." Neji's voice cut through her thoughts, bringing her abruptly back to the situation at hand.

"Just like that? You expect me to leave with you right now, without so much as a chance to say goodbye or an opportunity to explain?" Her voice normally soft and quiet rose with her sense of outrage and disbelief. A slight hint of color began to fill her checks as the shreds of her confidence began to mend back together.

Neji shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "That's not my problem. You're the one who allowed him the illusion that you're free and encumbered all the while knowing that you are a Hyunga and thus subject to the restrictions of the clan. You deliberately deceived him if you led him believe there was any possibility of a future together. That is a weakness of your character, Hinata-sama, and not my responsibility." He seemed bored, his tone detached and calm as if they were discussing the weather.

He might as well have been speaking a foreign language for all the sense that he was that he was making to her. His logic was alien to her and so terribly flawed that she didn't even know where to begin. "Well, you're right about one thing Neji, it's not your problem. I'm not your problem. And I'm not leaving, I won't do that to him."

"How strange, I don't recall offering you a choice in the matter." His eyes sharply focused in on her as he aggressively stepped forward.

Quickly retreating a step back, she challenged him, subtly shifting her weight into a more defensive position. "Do you really think you can drag me off without a fight? You might succeed in defeating me, but you know as well as I do that even on your best day, you could never beat Naruto. The elders won't thank you for turning this into a public display and make no mistake because I swear to you that I won't go quietly."

"Is it dignity or sense that you lack most?" He smirked cynically, shaking his head as if he was genuinely amused by her words. "If you really believe it's that simple to leave the family," his voice twisted bitterly, "then you are more naive than even I imagined. They allowed you to go because it suited their purpose, but that time has long since passed."

"Perhaps Naruto is strong enough to stop me, but is he strong enough to take on the entire clan? And even if he did, how would that damage his chances of becoming the hokage, hmmmm? Assuming that he is even willing to make such a sacrifice for _your_ sake, are you really so selfish as to demand it from him?" His voice was silky with menace and he enjoyed the look of stunned pain that he could see shadowed in her eyes. It might be petty, but he took a certain amount of pleasure in bringing her down to the level she so rightfully deserved.

There was a long moment when she simply stared at him, almost unable to formulate a response to the unexpected threat and accusation. Hinata recognized his tactic, of course, it was classic Hyunga tradition when manipulation failedto attempt to bully the recalcitrant into abject submission and that is where Neji made his mistake. She would allow no one to stand in her presence and threaten Naruto without making a threat or two of her own. "Cousin, unless you want to this to turn into a very public spectacle, I strongly advise you to stand down. Now." The grey in her eyes hardened to a silver sheen in retaliation, even as her arms rose slightly in preparation for a preemptive attack if he continued to force the issue.

She couldn't imagine her family suddenly having an epiphany and realizing that they missed her and wanted her to return, nor could she understand what Neji's true motivations were. Normally, a branch member, even the family genius would never dare to be so bold, but with the change in her status, the rules had significantly changed. But that didn't begin to explain Neji's recent behavior, even taking into account the discovery of Naruto's still unexplained memory loss. Whatever Neji or the rest of her family's issue was, she wanted nothing to do with it. She had made a new life for herself, free and independent of their intrigue and political schemes.

"Big words for such a little girl," he scoffed, almost without thought sliding into the counter stance to the one she presented. Standing there, he considered calling her bluff, calculating the odds of whether he could take her quietly enough to slip away. As much as he would have enjoyed dragging her back to the complex, he didn't trust himself not to damage her beyond merely knocking her out and her death would do nothing to accomplish his goals. He needed her alive and if not willing, then at least compliant. His eyes flickered just beyond her, someone was coming down the stairs in the building and he realized the window of opportunity was lost, for now at least.

"Tonight . . . tomorrow," he shrugged his shoulders dismissively, "you will return Hinata-sama and very soon, it's all but a matter of time at this point. The longer you choose to draw out the inevitable, the more you allow his hope to grow, then the greater his suffering will be in the end. I never suspected you capable of such a deliberate act of cruelty. That only goes to prove that he deserves better than you could ever hope to offer."

* * *

Naruto stared at Kakashi in horrified realization, replaying the last few moments in an almost slow-motion montage. The jounin was right, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't deny the possibility that it was true. The only problem now was that he had no idea what to do, because if Kakaski was right, then the implications were . . . well, dangerous to say the least. He began thinking back over the last few days he could remember and events began to make a sickening sort of sense. 

Kakashi watched Naruto's eyes lose focus for a moment, with a grim sense of satisfaction. He knew without Naruto needing to say even a word that he had finally gotten through to him and while he still didn't have all the answers, he was sure that he was beginning to figure this thing out. If Jiriaya were here, he might know more, but unfortunately they lost the Sannin a few years ago. Without his experience, the best Kakashi could do without actually witnessing what happened to Naruto was to make an educated and hopefully correct guess.

"So now what? If you're right, not that I'm not saying you are, then tell me how the_ fuck_ do we combat something like that?" Naruto slumped into his chair, his head tilted back even as his hand fell to cover his eyes. He was as near to admitting failure as Kakashi had ever seen him.

The older man sighed. "That depends entirely on you. The Naruto I've known for all these years wouldn't hesitate to go after his enemy, the one who threatened his village and precious people, no matter who it was. Sometimes people can't be saved, no matter how much you might want to. The question is are you willing to do what must be done?"

"You mean am I willing to take him out?"

"If it becomes necessary, then you might have to. Naruto, I know how hard this might be for you –"

"Bullshit." Naruto abruptly cut him off, his hand sliding down to his side.

Kakasho quickly lost his patience and with a deft kick, knocked over Naruto's chair, sending him sprawling onto the floor. He ignored the muffled explosion of profanity, "Dammit Naruto, get your head out of your ass! Contrary to popular belief, you're not the only person who was ever betrayed by someone you trusted. This is more than just your problem, this could take out the entire village and everyone in it. So you need to tell me if I can trust you to do this or not."

"Or what?" Naruto smoothly stood up to stare his former sensei in the eye. "Are you going to go after him? Yeah, I didn't think so." He scoffed in disbelief.

Intensely aware of Naruto's reluctance, Kakashi kept his gaze easily. Better than most and more than he ever wanted to, he understood, but as sympathetic as he was, this time there was no room for mercy and forgiveness. This time, there was no other possible choice, for the sake of the village. Naruto - the jounin and ambu hunter - would have understood this, not liked it, but would have understood, but this twelve-year-old incarnation lacked the inherent callousness that came from experience. He was dangerously naïve and idealistic to the point where he just might succeed in getting himself killed and condemning everyone else around him. A shinobi was a tool of the people, but a wild and an unpredictable one was useless.

Kakashi knew that the responsibility of getting through to Naruto was going to fall to him. Looking into the frustrated blue eyes of his friend and former student, his throat tightened with nostalgia. For a moment he allowed himself the freedom to remember and almost expected Sasuke to burst out from around the corner with Sakura chasing him. Expected . . . and wanted desperately to believe. It was strange and so bitterly ironic. For the past nine years he had added yet another wish to his long list, another regret that maybe if he had done the right thing, whatever that was then maybe he could have changed the past. But instead, once again here he was facing the twelve-year-old Naruto.

He finally had the chance to maybe do the right thing and he couldn't. As much as he wanted to, he just couldn't do it. He would gladly sacrifice his life in a heartbeat, if he thought for one second that he would succeed, if only to spare him this pain, but he knew all too well that it wasn't an option. This was Naruto's fight, not his and there wasn't a damn thing he could do, but stand by helplessly and watch. He had no choice but to force Naruto to face this, by whatever means necessary. He never hated himself more.

"And you claim to want to be the Hokage?" The jounin shook his head mockingly. "I should've known that you wouldn't have the stones for it." The look of sudden confusion that turned into stunned betrayal cut the copy-nin to quick and he savored the burn, it was, after all, no more than he deserved. Steeling himself, he continued sneering, "how absolutely pathetic."

Naruto felt himself go cold as he tried to figure what Kakashi's game was. He desperately tried to convince himself that his sensei hadn't, wouldn't, turn on him. It just didn't make any sense. Why would he come here, explain about my parents and Sasuke only to stab him in the back? Narrowing his eyes as he stared at his sensei and wondered bitterly if this was yet another "looking under the underneath" exercises that Kakashi was always so fond of, before deciding that he didn't give a fuck anymore. It was too much. Whatever he was, whatever anyone expected him to be, it was just too damn much.

"Reverse psychology?" He scoffed, "is that really the best you've got? I'm almost disappointed. Maybe you should take a lesson or two from Ibiki?" Naruto wasn't entirely certain of what impelled him to continue the argument. He was just so tired of all this shit, but something inside of him rebelled at simply giving up and giving him. If they wanted him to really do this, to hunt Sasuke down like a rabid dog, he needed a better reason. Sasuke might be a rat bastard, but he was his rat bastard of a teammate and he wouldn't, no he couldn't, give up on him so easily.

Seeing a bit of life spark in Naruto's eyes, Kakashi released a heavy sigh. It wasn't the wide grin he remembered from his former student, but considering everything that he had dumped on Naruto tonight, it was enough. He was going to get grief from Tsuande over this delay, but he had pushed Naruto as far as he was willing to tonight. He could easily reveal the truth about the Ucicha and what he he'd been up to over these past few years. Or of the names newly carved on the memorial monument, including Ibiki Morino's, but he refused to lay that burden on him on top of everything else. Tomorrow would be another day.

* * *

Neji abruptly dropped out of his stance as he became aware of the two figures coming down the stairs. Naruto was accompanied by the copy-nin, neither of whom he was in any mood to tangle with, if he didn't have to. A quick glance around confirmed his suspicion that the opportunity to slip away unnoticed had passed, so he forced himself into a seemingly causual stance. Hinata watched him warily, until she heard the door open behind her, a small smile breaking across her face as she recognized her boyfriend's unique charka. 

Walking out onto the street, Naruto pulled up short, sensing the tension in the air. His eyes narrowed, upon finding Hinata standing in a battle ready stance a few feet away from Neji. The Huynga genius had his arms crossed in front of his chest, his features marred by that coldly smug expression, all too reminiscent of Naruto's nightmare from earlier that week. Feeling his hackles beginning to rise, he quickly moved to stand between Hinata and her cousin, shielding her from the older ninja's sight. Naruto reminded himself not to exacerbate the situation, buthe couldn't quiteresist staring Neji down, even as with one hand, he made sure to keep his girlfriend safely behind him.

"Hey, Neji, a bit far from your usual haunts, aren't you?" Naruto's attempt to keep his voice casual was at odds with the distinct flash of his blue eyes. The last thing he remembered about Neji was a reconciliation of sorts between them. Neji had started acting like a normal human being, instead of a stuck up, hostile bastard, but then again who the hell knew what had happened over the past few years. He had considered the Huynga a friend, but Naruto wasn't about to tolerate any threats to Hinata, no matter how friendly a source they might originate from. "Everything cool?"

Neji's impassive expressionslipped a notchas he focused on Naruto, the storm cloudsinhis eyes breaking slightly as he studied the other man for a moment. Not for the first he wondered what the skilled jounin saw in her, of all people. It was absolutely unfathomable to him.He shrugged his shoulders, in the end, it wouldn't matter, this liasion would be ending soon enough and the sooner the better. An odd smirk slowly lifting one corner of his mouth. "Well enough." His voice was genial when he spoke to Naruto, but he didn't bother to disguise the contemptin his voice as he continued, "I just stopped by to speak to Hinata-sama, clan business, you understand."

Although the Neji very clearly directed his wrath towards Hinata alone, Naruto felt the impact as if it was intended for him. The very fact that it was meant for his girlfriend, who had always gone out of her way to be kind to everyone, but especially her cousin, seemed to intensify his sense of injustice and the corresponding violent response. Before he realized what was happening, his eyes narrowed to mere slits, his charka rising with his anger.

Hinata fought past his nearly implacable grip, reaching for his hand that was beginning to form the Rasengan, her hands tightly winding around his arm, forcing it down. At the same time, standing off to the side of Hinata, Kakashi's usually lazy gaze sharpened to a near preternatural level of awareness. Neji, however, maintained his calm demeanor, his head tilted slightly to the left as he studied the man who had once defeated him in the Chunnin exam.

Something was definitely off with his old friend, but he couldn't quite pin it down. He longed to use his Byakugan, but considering the circumstance, activating his bloodline limit at this time would be suicidal. Besides, he truly didn't bear Naruto or even the copy-nin any grudge, indeed he believed that before this matter was over, Naruto would come to see the wisdom of his actions.And when it came to his cousin . . . well, as far as he was concerned, he was completely justified in his resentment towards her. And as he had already told her . . . . tomorrow was another day.

TBC

Ok, this isn't exactly the chapter that i had intended to post, in my opinion it's neither as long or as good, but since the original went up in flames (quite literally), this is what i've been able to cobble together to my best recollection. to be honest, i really don't like this chapter & may even repost at some point in the future, but i don't know when that might be, so i figured that i'd post what i had instead of dragging it out until the gods only when.

Lastly, I'd just really like to thankyou all for the reviews and your continued patience. My last chapter for my other story was all but ignored, which threw my confidence a bit, but every time I was ready to stop writing this chapter I got another wonderful review, without all of you, this chapter might have taken much longer. Thanks again.

Take my advice, always remember to turn your lights OFF . . . seriously, i left that light on all the time for years & then one afternoon it simply imploded, apparently you really never can quite tell. be careless . . . house fires area serious pain in the ass.


	8. If Only It Were That Simple

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so please let me know what you think. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, possible other pairings – I haven't made up my mind on that score yet.

I've just gotten a beta-reader, Chelsea, although she hasn't gotten to this chapter, but I'm impatient, so this will probably be updated in a bit, at which time I'll be sure to update. Thanks so much Chelsea this story wouldn't be nearly as well written without her help. b Also whoever nominated this story T.O.N.A. – thank you/b Whether I win or not, the nomination was the validation of simply being nominated was thrilling. Of course if you're so inclined, feel free to vote for me at http / www . livejournal . com / community / narutofic / 3495 . html (take out the spaces). Again thank you all so very much.

Chapter 8 – If Only It Were That Simple

It was still early in the morning. Between everything Kakashi dumped on him last night and whatever went down with Hinata and Neji's confrontation that she still refused to discuss, sleep was an impossibility for Naruto. Lying on his back, Hinata's arm outstretched across his chest, he lightly lifted her hand and sitting up, carefully placed it back on the bed. He swung his legs onto the floor and resting his arms along his knees, he slumped over - exhausted but far too wired to actually sleep. The slight sound of rustling sheets and blankets behind him was his only warning before an arm sneaked around his waist as a warm body suddenly pressed up against his back.

"Couldn't sleep, hmmm? Hinata's sleepy voice asked. Her other arm slid down his shoulder and chest in a lopsided hug, even as she tucked her face into the crook of his neck.

Covered her hands with his own, he pulled her tightly to him, relaxing slightly as her warmth surrounded him and his head fell back to lay against her shoulder. "Nope, not really." His voice was low and husky, sending shivers throughout her body.

"What can I do to help?"

He laughed sardonically. "I'm not sure that anyone can help."

She made a soft sound of distress and pulled herself up to her knees. Tightening her hold on him, her hands sought to soothe him. "It can't be as dire as all that, Naruto. This was something that was done to you; therefore there must be a way to reverse it. All that remains is for us to discover it and we will." Her voice grew impassioned and stronger as she spoke, leaving no doubts about her determination.

"Ah Hinata, if only it were that simple . . ."

"And exactly why shouldn't it be, hmm? Your memory loss must be the result of an unknown jutsu, because it is so unlike any possible injury or amnesia that the Godaime or I have studied and between the two of us, not to mention the entire Kohona library, I can't believe that such a condition exists. So assuming that it is a jutsu, which all the evidence points to, then there must be a counter-jutsu." She tilted her head to rest firmly on his shoulder, as if willing him to believe her.

He was thoughtfully quiet for a moment, as if digesting her words, before leaning his head against hers. "How you manage to stay so optimistic despite everything." His question was so uncharacteristically serious that she squeezed him tightly for a moment.

"More purely stubborn than optimistic, I think. I've waited years to be right here with you today and I'm not going to let something like one measly jutsu, a little matter of some memory loss or even you stop me, believe me." She saw the corner of his mouth rise in a faint smile as she deliberately co-opted his oft-stated catchphrase. "Sorry Naruto-kun, but I'm afraid that you're stuck with me for life, so you had best get used to it."

"Oh really?" He smirked for a moment, with a barely veiled sense of amusement, before taking up the challenge that she had laid before him. Grasping her hands within his and with a quick twist of his body, he pinned her beneath him. "So tell me, Hina-chan, who exactly is stuck with who?"

Glancing up into his laughing blue eyes, she inelegantly stuck her tongue out at him, thoroughly distracting him. Like any good kunoichi who knows when to capitalize on an opponent's weakness, she curled one leg around his and deftly flipped them so that she sat astride him. Taking immediate advantage of her position, one hand fell to rest upon his shoulder, fingers brushing though his hair, while she nonchalantly propped her elbow on his chest, to brace her chin mere inches away from his face. "Now what was that you were saying?" She asked before answered her own question. "Oh yeah, something about you being stuck with me, right?" She smirked down at him, satisfied that she had proven her point.

"Dream on, babe. As far as I'm concerned, I've got you exactly where I want you," he finished, firmly pulling her down and trapping her in his embrace.

Between the lean intensity of his arms above her and the heat of his body against hers, she felt her strength melting away. The playful mood that she had stubbornly teased out of him slipped into something darker and more provocative. Her arms gave way under the gentle but unwavering pressure of his, as he drew her lower, one hand sliding up the curve of her spine to wrap around the nape of her neck. Naruto held his breath as he gave her the opportunity to pull away if she chose, praying all the while that she wouldn't.

The tension seemed almost unbearably drawn out and Hinata was unsure of what to do. The smart thing would be to break his hesitant hold and roll away. She knew that he wouldn't stop her, wouldn't push her any farther than she was willing to go, but she was all too willing to go all the way. Her dilemma was that her decision shouldn't be based on what she wanted, but what he wanted or in this case needed. Ethically and legally, she was walking too fine line for her to judge what was right or wrong anymore.

Curling her fingers tightly around his shoulders, she took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing her body to obey before pushing herself off to the side. Turning her head to the side, she watched as his features smoothed out to a blank expression, hiding his reaction to what he perceived as her rejection. Twining her fingers with his reluctant ones, she whispered. "Oh Naruto, until we get everything straightened out, I don't think that we should . . . do that sort of thing. It's not right."

"Not right? Don't give me that bullshit!" He demanded angrily, ripping his fingers free of her and flinging himself off of the bed. "You tell me what is right, Hinata. Kakashi-bastard wants me to go after Sasuke, go after him and kill him - kill my own teammate! Tsunade-baba expects me to be the next Hokage so she can drink and gamble her life away. And you Hinata? You want me to be someone I can't even remember. You don't want me; you want him, whoever the fuck he is! _Is that_ _right, Hina-chan_?" He spat the words out bitterly, mocking her earlier words. His eyes met her for a moment, before he scoffed, turning away from her. "Does anyone even give a fuck what I want?"

"No . . . Naruto-kun, it's not like that - " She began anxiously her words spilling out over each other in a rush to get them out, before he abruptly cut her off.

"Yeah, whatever, Hinata. I just can't deal this with right now." Grabbing a jacket, he stalked off towards the door.

"Wait! Naruto, where are you going?" She jumped off the bed and began hurrying towards him.

"Somewhere that you're not. Look, I'm not leaving the village or anything stupid, Hinata. I just need some space to breathe and I can't do that here with you watching me, waiting for . . . hell, I don't even know what. I'll be back in a few hours, ok?" He opened the door, just as she drew even with him. Leaning forward for a moment, he brushed a heated kiss across her lips, before he carefully pushed her back and shut the door in her stunned face.

* * *

Naruto took to the rooftops of Kohona, until he reached the outskirts of the village, pissed off at the world in general. He stared at the training grounds with a moody expression on his face, as images of the past seemed to surround him, before he was able to shake them off and continue into the deep of the forest. Reasonably confident that he was alone at last he relaxed, sitting on a thick branch high enough to spot any intrusion and leaning up against the trunk of the tree.

Truthfully, he wasn't angry with Hinata, so much as simply frustrated and not just sexually, he decided derisively. All he really wanted was his life back and at this point he didn't care which one he ended up with, either had to be better than this current half-life limbo. He looked into the trees, without actually seeing them, the implications of what Kakashi had suggested was far too disturbing.

Naruto considered Sasuke his friend, but was under no illusions of how ruthlessly the Uchiha could be when it came to his self-imposed mission of vengeance. He would do to whatever lengths to gain the power that he deemed necessary to kill his brother, up to and including the betrayal of all that Naruto held sacred, even the village and their friendship. He had proven that already and after spending over nine years in the company of Orochimaru and Kabuto, who knew what he was capable of? It was an ugly question, but one that couldn't be ignored.

He still wanted to save Sasuke, even if in the end, it turned out to be only from himself, remember his long ago promise to Sakura, but at the same time was afraid that the price might be devastatingly high. Kakashi's story of his father's fall from grace lingered in his mind, as he was sure that it was meant to. His old sensei never talked about his past, unless the circumstances demanded it, and the fact that he had mentioned something so personally painful spoke volumes.

Abandoning someone, a teammate and a friend especially, went against everything he had been taught and everything that he believed in, but . . . Naruto visualized everyone else in his life . . .so many amazingly diverse individuals and for one long moment, tried to think of who he would be without them there with him and couldn't If it came down to them, as occasionally difficult and twisted as they all might be, if it came down to his loyalty to them versus Sasuke, he knew where he would have to stand. But he hoped like hell that he could find a way to make that choice obsolete, otherwise . . .

* * *

"Yo . . . Naruto! How long are you going are you going to sit up there and brood? I'm starting to get bored."

Startled, the blonde nearly fell off his perch. "Aww, give me a break. It's not like I don't have enough people trying to kill me, but now you've gotta join in too? You're killing me here, ya know that, right?" Naruto balefully stared down at his friend, before he swung himself down, landing in a crouch and slowly stood up.

"Oh get over yourself, Uzumaki and suck it up! You've been on this self-pity kick for at least an hour by my reckoning, leaving chaos in your wake as usual."

"Damn Shikamaru, don't pull your punches, why don't you?"

"I never have before, so why should I start now? Too much trouble in the end." The spiky hair jounin, carelessly shrugged his shoulders, barely sparing Naruto a glance.

Naruto snickered for a minute, before shaking his head ruefully. Same old, slacker genius, at least there was someone he could count on not to bother trying to bullshit - too much of an effort, he assumed. He felt more in his element for the first time since he woke up in bed with Hinata.

"So what's the plan?"

"Plan?"

Lazy half opened eyes slanted towards his way, before pointedly sighing. "Yeah, _the plan._" He paused for a moment, eyes opening a shade wider. "Please tell me that you've at least been thinking of a plan." Shika's voice sounded almost painfully resigned.

"Nope." Naruto smirked, as he watched his dark-eyed friend stare up towards the sky as if seeking a sign from the gods.

"And he says that I'm killing him?" He asked rhetorically. "I can't believe that you haven't even begun thinking about this situation rationally. But luckily for you, I'm around, so has much as it hurts me to say it; it's time to get serious here."

Naruto's rising mood suddenly fell flat. "You want me to kill Sasuke too, don't you?"

Guess that answers that question. Shika sighed heavily, running his hand over his hair. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out exactly what it was about that guy that inspired so much loyalty in otherwise sane people.

"Look Naruto, you know I wouldn't bullshit you, but it might come down that. I get that you still want to consider him a friend - considering everything he's pulled over the past few years, I won't pretend to understand it, but I can respect that that's how you feel. But we - you, me and everyone else we care about - all have too much to lose to let him run around, fucking up our lives. I mean come on; he wiped out, nearly half of your life trying to do who the hell knows what. Who is he going to come after next? We need to figure this out and decide what we're going to do." He sounded as serious as that last mission they had went on.

"I appreciate the offer, Shika but there is too much going on and most of it confidential for me to get into now - "

"Don't give me that shit, Naruto and don't forget who you're dealing with. As far as I can tell it seems pretty straightforward." Naruto opened his mouth to angrily retort, but Shikamaru just continued over his words. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like Sasuke-kun," the missing nin's name all but dripping with contempt, "tried to use a powerful jutsu on you, Orochimaru's immortality skill would be my guess, and either fucked it up or failed to take into account the Nine Tails. Either of which makes sense considering that he has always believed in his own press and inflated reputation."

"Ok, how the fuck do you know about the Kyuubi? Did I tell everyone?" Naruto demanded, his jaw dropping in disbelief.

Shika stared at him for a moment, his brows drawing together as he shook his head dismissively. "As far as who you might have told, I have no idea. No one told me anything, I figured it out on my own and no, I didn't tell anyone.

"So why aren't you freaking out about it?" Naruto eyed him suspiciously.

"Sorry, am I supposed to be freaking out?" One corner Shikamaru's mouth quirked up curiously.

Naruto gaped for a moment, seemingly stymied by the question. "Um . . . yeah?"

"Why would I freak, Naruto? Are you planning on losing control of the Nine Tails and slaughter me?" When the blonde simply stared at him without responding, Shika sighed again.

"Look, I've known you for how many years now? And in all that time, I've never seen you lose control or attack anyone who wasn't trying to kill you or someone else first. You didn't ask to have demon sealed within you and you've put up with a lifetime of shit for something that wasn't even you fault. If you haven't lost it yet, I doubt that you're going to now. Besides all that, you're my friend, moron. And I think, if you give them half a chance, most if not all of our friends would agree."

Hearing the implicit challenge, Naruto's face took on a more sober cast. His eyes drifted to a spot somewhere over Shika's shoulder as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, maybe," his voice was low and unconvincing.

The shadow-nin stared at him for a moment, uneasy with this disheartened mood from Naruto, of all people. Perhaps he'd overplayed his hand and underestimated the effect of years of neglect and while he stood by what he said, Shika also understood the advantage of a tactical withdrawal.

"It's your call, man. Whatever you decide is cool with me." He paused, giving the suddenly skittish blonde a chance to calm down. "But I do expect to hear from you sometime soon, because if you think that I'm gonna let go running off after Sasuke without even a rough idea of plan, then you're crazy. If Hinata doesn't come after me, than Ino _definitely_ will, at which point my life won't be worth living, which means I'll have to track your ass down and make your life just as difficult and none of us wants that, right? Way too damn troublesome." He smirked sarcastically.

Naruto snickered, faintly smiling, remembering Ino's infamous temper which was never more harassing as when directed towards her on and off (depending entirely on her mood that particular day) boyfriend.

"Yeah, yeah . . . laugh it up now. You won't be nearly as amused ifI sic her on you." Shika commented dryly.

"Ah, no thanks, man. She's all yours."

"Yep, lucky me." A dark eyebrow ached as he shook his head ruefully. "Ino's great, until she's not. And speaking of my sometimes girlfriend, if I don't meet her for lunch, the rest of my day will be completely shot, so I'd better jet." He turned and started walking away. "And don't forget what I said either. When you're ready, come and find. We'll figure out a way to drag Sasuke back, kicking and screaming if need be," he tossed over his shoulder.

Meandering off towards the village, he raised one hand casually in the air without turning around. "Ja ne . . ." Naruto watched him, until he passed out of sight.

* * *

Once out of range, Shikamaru abruptly sped up. He'd done what he'd set out to do and while he had meant word that he'd said, it was a small consolation considering what had sent him into the forest. He only managed to a couple of hundred of feet away, before he sensing that he was being followed. With a resigned sigh, he begrudgingly slowed down by the merest fraction and as he expected moments later, Kakashi landed next to him.

"So . . . how'd it go? I didn't want to get to close for fear of putting him on his guard."

"So you just send into the sacrificial goat that he maybe trusts?" Shika muttered under his breath.

"Oh, don't get sanctimonious with me, Nara." Kakashi's usually bored tone hardened into something more ominous. "Naruto needed to talk someone with somewhat of an appearance of neutrality and like it not, you were the one best fit for the job. So tell me what happened without the guilt trip, ok?"

Black eyes stared into the older man for a moment, before deciding against arguing the point. "What do you want to know? He's hasn't decided how he's going after Sasuke, but he is going to try. Despite everything he still sees the Uchiha as a friend of sorts, so I doubt that he has any intention of killing him at this point. He's a bit paranoid about people's reactions to the Kyuubi, but other than that he's seems as about as stable as you can expect considering that half of his life was wiped clean."

The copy-nin shot him a startled glance. "You _actually_ told him that _I_ told you?"

"No. I didn't need you to tell me, I figured it out on my own years ago. The way everyone, including you I might add, treated him? It's wasn't that difficult to discover. Even in the academy I knew there was something 'different' about Naruto and his fight with Neji in the Chuunin tournament pretty much cemented it for me. For a village of shinobi, there are some damned unsubtle nin running around here."

Kakashi tilted his head as if somewhat chagrined. "At the time, we thought it was for the best."

"Because that worked so well," the dark haired nin said scornfully. "How could you let them treat him like that."

"I know that he's your friend, Nara, but I care about him too, ok?" He paused, for a moment, and Shika had to slow down again to keep up with his as he stared off as if looking into the past. "I always meant to check up on him, you know, but at first I was with the ANBU, with no idea of how to take care of a kid, or was even capable of it. And then afterward, well I was barely able to co-exist with other Jounin, let alone a child. If I had it do over again, I'd like to think that I'd find a way to do it differently but . . . who knows." He shrugged regretfully.

"But I can't change it and that's not important anymore, we've got to deal with this situation first – taking care of Naruto and tracking down Sasuke have to be our first priority. I need to know if you're ok with this."

"I don't give a damn about the Uchiha, but Naruto is my friend and the only reason I agreed to go along with this scheme. If he ever needs me, I'll be there for him. Now are we done here?" He demanded, obviously impatient to leave.

"Yeah, we're done." Kakashi watched in satisfaction as Shika took off. "I know you're his friend, Shikamaru, that's why I choose you." A noise from behind caught his attention and with a quick glance around, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Moving out from behind a tree, Neji walked out into the clearing. "Unsubtle nin, eh?" He smirked. "Better make that unsubtle and oblivious nin, Nara . . . "

TBC

Ok So that was the eight chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me know that too and why. I've only recently discovered Naruto and I'm depending on you to let me know if they're OOC, or off in any other way.

Sorry for the delay and shortness of this chapter it would have been longer and poster earlier, but I ran into some technical difficulties (i.e. my computer decided to screw up), I've got the situation resolved somewhat, soon to be fixed completely, so hopefully I'll be able to finish the next chapter within the next week or so.


	9. Memories

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so please let me know what you think. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, possible other pairings – I haven't made up my mind on that score yet.

I've just gotten a beta-reader, Chelsea, although she hasn't gotten to this chapter, but I'm impatient, so this will probably be updated in a bit, at which time I'll be sure to update. Thanks so much Chelsea this story wouldn't be nearly as well written without her help. b Also whoever nominated this story T.O.N.A. – thank you/b Whether I win or not, the nomination was the validation of simply being nominated was thrilling. Of course if you're so inclined, feel free to vote for me at http / www . livejournal . com / community / narutofic / 3495 . html (take out the spaces). Again thank you all so very much.

ok, it's valentines day & i'm in full **anti-valentines day **mode. my beta-reader may have fallen off the world for all i know, since i haven't heard from her & i'm sick of holding this chapter just waiting. its been a rough week - personally, professionally & i got some nasty reviews on top of everything else, so if you're going to flame me on this chapter, do me a favor & just don't. some nice reviews & maybe a vote or two in the T.O.N.A. would be nice, but i'll take what i can. hopefully you'll kile it, i think it's some of my best work, but you may disagree . . . whatever.

Chapter 9 - Memories

Standing outside of his apartment, the aroma of freshly cooked ramen wafted into the hallway and feeling like an ass, he reluctantly pushed the door open. The set table seemed to mock him as he walked in, just catching sight of Hinata's back while she stared out the window into the dark night sky. He let the shut quietly behind him as he walked into the room, hoping that she'd turn around and yell at him or something. From the faint tremor of her shoulders, he knew that she was aware of his presence, but her refusal to acknowledge him struck a still raw nerve. Moving closer, he could just make out a trace of what he suspected were tear stains in the reflection of the glass.

He tentatively rested his fingertips on her shoulders, almost expected her to shrug off his touch and was relieved when although she stiffened, she didn't move away as he tried to gently coax her into turning around. For a long moment she stood perfectly still, barely even breathing, passively resisting his efforts before she abruptly ran her hands down her face and slowly turned. Naruto exhaled roughly in frustration because now that was finally facing him, she only stared down at the floor. He reached out, fingers grazing under her chin, tipping her face up to his and tenderly rubbed his thumb against her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I was a jerk, I know that, it's not much of an excuse but . . . " His voice drifted off hopefully, before he sighed at her continued unresponsiveness. "Oh, come on, Hinata . . . You gonna stay angry at me forever?"

Her eyes sparked rebelliously as she quickly retorted, "Worried, Naruto, not angry, worried; although I suppose that you deserve that too."

He winced at the sharp tone in her voice, although he was perversely pleased with her show of temper, preferring a pissed off Hinata to the quiet ghost-like figure who was waiting for him tonight, any day of the week. He opened his mouth to apologize again, but never got the chance to say anything as she cut him off.

"I cannot believe how absolutely irresponsible you were today! What exactly were you thinking?"

Gamely he tried to reply, only to be cut off again.

"Nevermind! I don't even want to know!" She threw her hands up in apparent disgust. "All I want to hear from you is that you aren't going to be so stupidly reckless again as to storm off in a temper tantrum!" She punctuated her words with an emphatic finger pointed mere inches from the center of his chest as she glared up at him, a dictatorial expression on her face.

Naruto stared at her, utterly lost for words as he eyed her warily for a minute, wondering who or what had taken over his usually sweet-tempered girlfriend. "Ummmm . . . ok?" He nearly stuttered, weakly answering her. Half-fascinated by this unexplored aspect of Hinata's personality and half-frightened that she might suddenly morph into Sakura-chan or Tsuande-baba and knock him out of the room.

She looked up at him, her expression changing from militant to something more pensive and moody. "I'm serious, Naruto. I know that it's hard to hear and you're going to hate it, probably about as much as I hate having to be the one to say it, but it's the truth and something you need to remember. You know that we're currently at war and at the moment who you are – a jounin, an ambu captain and the next hokage with only a genin's experience makes you vulnerable and worse a liability."

Her voice drifted off momentarily, as she gathered up her bearings to force herself to continue. "You can't just run off and put yourself in danger because you're mad at me or on a selfish whim. That isn't the Naruto I remember, in either incarnation." In the silence that fell between them, Hinata's clouded eyes met his steadily, even as pangs of regret tore through her at seeing the stunned bewilderment on his face.

Naruto's expression blanked, as he took a step back, barely stopping himself from the instinctive desire to withdraw completely. Logically, on a certain level he could begin to appreciate what Hinata had said, but at the same time he felt almost shell-shocked. "A liability," that's what she said – was that what she really thought of him? - and he focused on that word, unconsciously wrapping his mind around the concept. Memories from his early childhood began to overwhelm him.

/flashback/

That first night he spent alone in his apartment, when instead of wearing his brand new sleeping cap that the 3rd had given him earlier that day, he clenched it tightly in his arms. Lying there in the dark, he tried to be a big kid and not to flinch, or worse cry, at every scary sound he heard outside. Supposedly this was safer than staying at the orphanage, but the frightened eight year old would have gladly endured all the bullying just so he wouldn't have to be alone.

Remembering the time he finally understood what the word bastard meant, when he was kicked out of the market for the umpteenth time and instead went to the one store that would actually sell him food. He spent all his money buying the only thing he knew how to make and could afford to buy enough to last out the week – ramen. If he was lucky, the cashier would let him have an extra cup, even though he was still only able to buy less than half whatever anyone else would purchased for the same amount of money.

The day Sakura told her friends what an annoying, troublemaker brat he was and he decided to prove her wrong and make her his girlfriend.

The afternoon that he'd gone to visit the 3rd, who told him that he could stop by whenever he felt sad and he overheard a meeting between the old man that he liked to pretend was his grandfather ever since he first learned such a thing existed talking with those strange people who wore the funny masks that he saw around the village sometimes. They wanted permission to kill "the monster," whatever that was. He shrugged, if it really was so bad, then maybe it should die and silently cheered the men on before the Hokage interrupted them. "Enough. Naruto is _my _responsibility." Realizing that they were talking him, that he was "the abomination that needed to be put to death," he felt sick. Later over cookies and tea, when he asked the 3rd what an 'abomination' was, carefully repeating the difficult word from memory, his childish tongue tripping over the unfamiliar syllables, the old man turned white and abruptly sat down, Naruto felt even worse.

After the final exam at the academy when he found out why he was so hated by everyone and began to hate himself. Even though Iruka had defended him, even saved his life and nearly died in the process, the look in the older man's eyes when Mizuki had revealed the terrible secret of his existence was searingly painful and would haunt him forever.

Then Naruto remembered falling to his knees, trying to support Hinata's weight when she collapsed to the ground in the lobby of Kohona's hospital upon hearing that Shino had been declared DOA in the surgerical ward. The gaping wounds inflicted by the Chidori were too severe despite the best efforts of the medic-nins, including Hinata, herself, Sakura and Tsuande. Sitting there, his arms wrapped tightly around her broken and crumpled figure, he pulled her into his lap ignoring the pool of Shino's sticky blood coagulating around them. He murmured nonsensical words of love and comfort, as she sobbed heartbreakingly into his chest. Naruto had a bad feeling about this mission when it was first proposed and it was all he could do to thank the gods that he'd had her pulled off of it. Of course, he was sorry that Shino and the others had died, but at the same time was so thankful that she was safe, even as he damned himself for the selfish thought. Nothing would ever be the same again. He knew that with a certainty that shook him to his soul, because if she had died - if he had lost Hinata, that was something he wouldn't be able to survive.

/flashback/

As he shut down in front of her, Hinata silently cursed her wayward tongue. She had meant what she said, but it was so hard to know what to say anymore or even more importantly how to say it. It seemed that since he'd lost his memory they communicated better on a physical level, so with that in mind she reached out a hand slowly giving him every opportunity to move away if he didn't want her touching him and was surprised when he suddenly jerked towards her and blurted out, "Shino's dead?" For a moment, she wasn't sure if he was asking a question or declaring a statement, before his words actually registered. A look of inexpressibly sorrow crossed her face as she remembered how she was unable to save her friend, only to realize that Shino had died little more than a year ago . . .

Naruto for his part was confused, unable to reconcile the actual events that he remembered and Shino's death which didn't make any sense, but he couldn't deny what he saw and the question came out of his mouth before he could even think to censor it.

"Y-you remember Shino's death?" Hinata stuttered out the words.

Naruto could barely contain himself. He had clearly and distinctly remembered something! Caught up in the moment, he smiled widely in his excitement, maybe this was the breakthrough that they'd been waiting for - until he saw the look on Hinata's face and understood what the scene he remembered meant. "Shino's really dead isn't he?"

She nodded mutely, her eyes, as she rapidly blinked them back, were suddenly bright and shiny.

He ran his hand through his hair roughly, trying to make sense of what he had seen. Hinata knew it was too late, when he seemingly froze. "By the Chidori, right?" He nodded to himself, lost somewhere in his own mind. "So it had to be Sasuke, then." His voice was heavy with repressed emotion. His hand launched out to punch the wall to his side, leaving a fist-sized impression in the dry wall and his blood carelessly dripping. And she flinched as the pictures she had hung up clattered to the floor, glass shattering on impact.

"Who else, Hinata?" He demanded fiercely, refusing to look at her. "Who else did Sasuke kill?" She stared at him, unwilling to list the names that would kill the last of his hope.

The empty look in his eyes scared her. "Who else, Hinata? I won't ask again." His voice was totally flat, with a chillingly dead undercurrent running through it. Hinata had a sudden sense of deja vu because in that moment, he reminded her of no one but Sasuke as she had last seen him after the Forest of Death.

"Hinata . . . " The imploring note in his voice caught her attention and she looked up to see him all but pleading with her to tell him the truth.

She shook her head slowly as she finally found the words she needed, her voice gentle but clearly drawing a line. "No, Naruto. Not tonight. Tomorrow is soon enough, you've had more than enough to deal with today." Her pale grey eyes were filled with a combination of compassionate sorrow and painful understanding that broke something free inside of him and as she moved towards him, he couldn't hold back anymore. Staggering towards her, she caught and held him closely as he shook convulsively. Naruto's eyes burned and as much as he fought to breathe calmly, painfully harsh sobs tore loose from him. Hinata smoothed her hands along his back and hair, while he shivered under her touch, softly whispering a refrain of comfort, not even noticing his fingers digging deeply into her upper arms, as she cried the tears that he wouldn't allow himself to.

Later that night, Naruto woke up, still dressed in his clothes and curled in Hinata's arms on the bed, his shoes lying on the floor. His head hurt and his throat felt rough and tight, but he felt somewhat better – not much, but at this point he'd take what he could get. Sasuke was a traitor . . . a murderer. He killed Shino and who knew how many more, but he knew there was. If Sasuke had sunk to that level once, then there'd be no stopping him short of death or permanent incarceration. And it was murder, there could be no doubt. Shino may not have been particularly close to either of them, but he was a teammate, a fellow Kohona shinobi.

This must have been what Kakashi had been alluding to when he said that putting down a rabid dog was the kindest one could do for them. Gaara may have been a killer, but that was before he understood friendship and loyalty, whereas Sasuke had, in the end, not cared.

He glanced over at Hinata, restless in her sleep, clinging tightly to him, one leg thrown between his, something normally would have had him blushing beet red and scrambling to the far side of the room, but it just seemed like too much effort at the moment. It was too late to go anywhere and he didn't think that he'd be able to extract himself from Hinata without waking her and now that she was sleeping, he didn't want to disturb her. Remembering the blood she was covering in, a deep feeling of protectiveness rose up within him, more than anyone else he didn't know what he'd without her. Naruto bit his bottom lip, because no matter where he looked he could find an acceptable way to deal with this. He sighed. Refusing to deal with the problem of Sasuke and he snarled at even thinking his name, forced himself back to sleep.

* * *

Someone was shaking him awake and just generally being annoying, so he reached out with his free arm to swat the person only to feel his arm grabbed and twisted, not painfully, but it was an uncomfortable enough sensation that he opened his eyes. Immediately flinching from the all too bright sunlight, he reached for a pillow to cover his face that was jerked from his hand. "What the fuck?" he mumbled, his voice husky from sleep. 

"Your breakfast is getting cold, you know." An amused voice penetrated his daze.

"Breakfast?" Naruto repeated incoherently, warily opening one eye slightly and squinting.

"Yes, but if you're not interested, I can always throw it out . . . " He opened both eyes fully to see Hinata walking past him with a teasing smile on her face. Blinking, he yawned, arms out-stretched before getting up and walking to the table, where miso soup and rice waited for him.

"Hinata, you rock!"

Her smile widened as he began eating and she began to make the bed.

"So what are we gonna today?" He asked between spoonfuls of soup.

Her smile dimmed slightly as she straightened up and walked back to sit across from him at the table. Naruto tilted his head questioningly as he waited for a response, but Hinata waited a few more minutes. "If you were feeling up to it, I thought we might go visit the memorial today." A long and moody silence followed her softly spoken statement and watching the changing expression on his face, she knew it was how she had suspected - somehow Naruto had managed to forget, if only temporarily, the events of last night and honestly she couldn't blame him.

Pushing away his bowel, half uneaten, Naruto slumped back in his chair, as if exhausted and gave a half-hearted nod of agreement. Hinata hated that tired and old look in his eyes, older than anyone either his mental or physical age had any right to be, but wisely held her tongue as she cleaned up. When he had changed and was ready, they quietly made their way to the memorial stone, despite her best efforts to draw him out.

Reading the names wasn't enough; it still didn't seem real, until he walked up to the stone and traced the names with his fingers. He felt sick, sicker than he could ever remember. If Hinata hadn't been by his side, he knew that he either would have ended puking in the bushes or bawling his eyes out right there in public and even with her presence it was a close thing. Luckily they were alone, if Kakashi came by; he would be unable to keep herself from loosing it. The list seemed to go on forever and not all of them were . . . there - he took a deep shuttering breath - because of the Uchica, but enough of them had to be that he was almost numb with horror.

Shino Aburame, Ibiki Morino, Kotetsu Hagane, Chomaru Akimichi and Jiraiya among so many others.

He didn't want to believe it, but the proof was in front of him and try as he might want to, he couldn't deny what he had seen with his own eyes. "So, Hinata, who did he put here other than Shino?"

She winced reflectively at the bitterness in his voice. Walking up behind him, she reached out to wrap her arms around him only to catch an armful of air as he evaded her embrace. Caught up in a paroxysm of grief and guilt, as much as he needed to be to be comforted, he didn't believe for one minute that he actually deserved it.

Pulling away from Hinata, he walked a few feet away to fall bonelessly to the ground in a careless heap. "How did it all go so fucking wrong?" Naruto asked her, eyes pleading for answers she didn't have. Feeling ineffectual, she shrugged and moved to sit next to him, holding his unresisting hand in her own. It was icy to her touch.

Rubbing it briskly between her own, she struggled over what to say, teeth worrying her bottom lip. "I know what you're thinking, but this isn't your fault, Naruto. As much as we might want to change or save other people, there is nothing we can do if they refuse to accept our help."

"But that's just it, Hinata, it is _my_ fault." He looked up impassionedly; the wash of pain in his eyes tore at her. "If I had just attacked to kill after he ran off with the Sound, then none of this would have ever happened. And everyone that he's killed since . . . their blood is on my hands just as much as it's on his."

On his face she saw something that in a lifetime of watching him she had never seen before – defeat. Everything seemed to fade away except for the naked pain that he didn't even try to hide. Unable to stop herself, Hinata gathered him in her arms, remembering that despite his appearance he was only twelve years old and no child should ever have to face this reality. Hinata's normally sensitive heart felt near to breaking, faced with his torment and her inability to ease it.

"Oh, no, Naruto-kun. Shhhhh, baby, shhh." She rocked him slightly. "Don't say that, please, don't say that. You aren't to blame in any way! You were only _twelve_, Naruto. You want someone to blame for this? Try Itachi, Kakashi, Tsuande-sama, Oorochimi or maybe even Sasuke himself. Except for Sasuke, they were all adults and they couldn't even stop him and as far as Sasuke's concerned – he _choose_ his path. None of this is on you, none of it." Her words were quietly intense as she tried to soothe him. He shook his head, buried in the crook of her neck and she could feel hot tears burning against her throat. "Oh, Naruto, this _is not_ your fault," she whispered brokenly, willing him to believe her.

He dimly heard Hinata, but rejected what she said, even as he clung to every word, too caught up in his own misery. Naruto could feel the shadows in his mind grow growing stronger as he held on Hinata trying to ward them off. He fought to hold it together, knowing that he couldn't afford to lose control now. Gritting his teeth, Naruto made one last shove with all his strength and felt them begin to withdraw, before allowing himself to relax. And panicked as he realized that as it retreated, it welled up around him, snaking underneath all his hastily built fortifications to surround and try to drag him down into the alien blackness. Just as he was ready to give up and let go, Hinata's last words penetrated and he reached for them like a drowned victim towards a lifeline.

Opening his eyes, he saw the cold sunlight through Hinata's silky black strands of hair and sighed in relief. Overlaid in silence, he heard a harshly grating voice snarl.

"_Little fox, little fox . . . You cannot hope to win."_

Deciding to ignore it, he leaned into her, almost knocking them both over. He had enough shit to deal without worrying about mysterious shadowy voices. Most of all, he didn't know what to do about Hinata.

She just didn't understand and how could she? She hadn't been there, hadn't seen the look in Sasuke's eyes. For one minute, Naruto had convinced himself that Sasuke was ready to call him, "dube," like old times and they'd go back home together . . . right before Sasuke had tried to kill him. And even when Kakashi was carrying home, more dead than not, he still had hope. After all, although Sasuke had struck a killing blow, he didn't follow it up with a kunai across the throat when he could have. And that was the thought that had stuck with him, obviously much longer than it should have.

He couldn't figure it out. Supposedly he had met up with Sasuke on that last mission before he'd lost his memory and still hadn't killed him. Why? Why had he spared the bastard's life when the Uchica had tried to kill him at least twice and after knowing that his former best friend was already a murderer? Was he really that weak? What kind of a shinobi – no, he wondered to himself – what kind of a person and friend had he become? Why was Hinata even with such a coward?

Kakashi and Tsuande, hell even Shikamaru, he could understand. They knew he was responsible for allowing Sasuke's apparent bloody rampage. He could do more than take him out – he owned that to them, to the village and Shino. But Hinata . . . she was so gentle, loving and genuinely good, the only light he could see in this nightmare. She deserved so much more than he could ever hope to offer. Neji was right yesterday, when he said that they didn't belong together. Right for the wrong reason, _he_ was the one who didn't deserve her. Naruto was even more glad that he knocked the Hyunga out cold. He almost wished that he could let her go, but knew that he wouldn't, at least not now. He just couldn't face going home alone; he was far too selfish for that.

TBC

Ok So that was the ninth chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me know that too and why. I've only recently discovered Naruto and I'm depending on you to let me know if they're OOC, or off in any other way.

Sorry for the delay and shortness of this chapter it would have been longer and poster earlier, but I ran into some technical difficulties (i.e. my computer decided to screw up), I've got the situation resolved somewhat, soon to be fixed completely, so hopefully I'll be able to finish the next chapter within the next week or so.


	10. Enlightening Conversations

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or any characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debts anyway. Warning time – the idea behind this story was inspired by a challenge off an LJ community anichallenge, so it's going to be AU. Also, this is my first foray into the Naruto fandom, so please let me know what you think. Lastly, if you missed it, this story is definitely going to be Naruhina, possible other pairings – definitely ShikaIno.

So about the delay, I've learned that I suck at writing fight scenes, so I gave up for now. There should end up being at least two in this story, so at some point, I'll have to figure them out, but in the interests of getting this chapter out, I scrapped the one I was i trying and failing /i to write. As a bonus though for the delay, this chapter is the longest, I've ever written for any fandom :D.

There is a bit more of Neji bashing . . . sorry to any Neji fans, but for any conflict, there must be an antagonist and although I love Neji, he fit the requirements.

Lol, lastly, my beta had to quit, so once b again /b , I apologize for any errors and I'm looking (what else is new) if you're interested, let me know, ok? For reference, I used Wikipedia for names, jutus, etc. so that's my new standard, they must have a better clue than me, lol.

Thanks so much and don't forget to review. :D

* * *

Chapter 10 – Enlightening Conversations

Sitting behind her desk, Tsunade felt both wary and yet oddly comforted by the presence of the Kazekage, who stared back at her unblinkingly. Gaara kept his counsel for the moment, still absorbing the intricate possibilities of what may have happened to his friend. Looking up he saw the impatient hope in her eyes and knowing that Naruto held this woman in great esteem, felt the need to say something sympathetic, although he was uncertain of exactly what to say.

"This is a troubling development, Gondaime," he began, choosing his words carefully, his low voice reverberating through the room.

"Troubling . . . yeah. That's one word for it," she quipped wryly. Tsunade's voice was a sharp contrast to her drawn expression. "Under the circumstances, I thought you might have been interested in knowing." Leaning down slightly, she opened a desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and a pair of glasses. Pouring out three fingers for herself, she offered one to him, which he declined, before tossing back her shot and promptly pouring another one. She winced, feeling the familiar burn of sake sliding down her throat.

Merely raising an eyebrow, Gaara ignored her behavior. "The Uchiha is a formidable enemy to both of our villages and this latest attack upon Naruto is merely the latest in a series of increasingly escalating incursions. The village of the Sand is at your disposal should you choose to eradicate this threat." The steady and emotionless timbre of his voice sent a shiver down the older woman's spine.

Taking a moment to steady herself, she poured and downed another shot. "Agreed and while the village of the Leaf appreciates the offer, Gaara-san, we've already begun taking steps in that direction. If we need any assistance we will, of course, contact you, but considering that the Uchiha is one of our missing-nins, we'd prefer to handle the matter of his capture and punishment internally if at all possible. I was rather hoping that you could help us with another matter, namely Naruto himself."

She took a deep breath, keeping in mind the sand-nin's history and attempting to broach the subject with the utmost diplomacy. "We aren't entirely certain what Sasuke's intentions were when he attacked Naruto, nor do we know exactly what he did, but it seems to have somehow affected the sealing of the Kyubi within him. " Gaara's eyes widened, before narrowing nearly imperceptibly. "Naruto understandably is in no condition to give us any further information regarding this situation, so we found ourselves at a loss as to exactly how to treat him. Since you and Naruto and the only two shinobi that we know of who have been sealed in such a manner, I was hoping that you might have some additional insight that might be of any help."

Pale, empty green eyes stared into hers for a long minute, before he nodded in acknowledgement. "Without seeing him, I cannot make any promises, but I will see what I can learn."

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she could feel her headache growing stronger. It was too much to expect a miracle to fall from the sky, but she'd take what she could get under the circumstances. "I understand."

Standing, they made their goodbyes and as she watched him leave, Tsunade hoped like hell that Kakashi-no-baka had known what he'd been talking about when he recommended that she bring Gaara of the Desert in on this. She turned and stared out at the Monument of the Four Hokages and pouring one last shot, silently saluted them, before tipping it back.

* * *

Wandering through the streets of Kohona, Gaara slowly made his way towards Naruto and Hinata's apartment complex, his guards sent back to the inn. He hadn't been back to the village of the Leaf in years, far longer than he would've liked – the burdens of being the Kazkage in a time of war were heavier than he'd ever expected. He'd found friends for the first time after the Chunnin exam and yet rarely got to spend time with them and when Naruto ascended to being the hokage himself, he feared that he'd see his friend even less. This, of course, assumed that he still had that friend, which was now in question.

Although he would always consider Naruto to be his friend, the closest thing to a best friend Gaara ever expected to have, he braced himself for the possibility that Naruto may no longer feel the same. If as Tsunade -san reported that his memory had been regressed to the age of twelve, and the last thing that he remembered was being carried back to the Nation of Fire after the battle with the Uchiha, then he might not even know of the alliance between the Sand and the Leaf. Worse, among his last memories would be when Gaara tried to kill him.

This did not bode well.

And if the memory loss was permanent, although they might forge a new friendship, years of memories the sand-nin cherished would be lost forever, as if they never existed. Glancing up, he realized that he nearly walked past the street he was searching for and turning seemingly at random at the crosswalk and after a few minutes, recognized Naruto's apartment building.

* * *

Although Hinata had made a valiant effort to awaken him, Naruto kept his eyes shut and feigned sleep until she left. Hinata was a girl and if there was one thing Naruto did remember, hell more like couldn't forget was that girls _needed_ to talk about everything to death. Hinata wasn't as bad as some he could mention, notably Sakura, Ino and even Tenten on occasion, but she did believe that talking about Sasuke – no, the Uchiha, he viciously reminded himself – was something he should do. And he just didn't know how to explain to her that couldn't and wouldn't discuss it, not with her at least.

He couldn't deal with his grief and sorrow, and turned into something that he _could_ handle - a purely violent sense of rage - and didn't trust himself not to take it out on her. What he really needed was a nasty, knock-down and drag-out fight just to rid himself of his temper that he was all too dangerously close to loosing. The way he could've hurt Hinata, entirely by accident was also weighing heavily on him. Right now, the best thing for her was to be as far away from him as possible and if being a bastard was the best way to accomplish that, then he was more than ready to do it.

After rolling out of bed and taking a shower, Naruto pulled on a baggy pair of black cargo pants. He ignored the breakfast Hinata had laid out for him, his stomach rebelling at the thought of food, reminding himself to throw it out later before she noticed and got upset or worse, worried. He also had to remember to tell her about the 'enlightening' conversation he'd had with Neji and grimaced, not looking forward to that conversation. He was really going to have to do something about the guy soon.

A knock at the door surprised him. Opening it, he was even more surprised to see Gaara of all people. Without really thinking, he tilted his head slightly in welcome and leaving the door open, walked back into the room to grab a t-shirt and pull it on. Naruto idly wondered why the redhead showed up. If this was going to turn into a fight, then he really had to get him outside soon, 'cause if Gaara didn't kill him, Hinata just might if he got the apartment trashed. And between of the two of them, he was a little more afraid of Hinata, because she wouldn't even have to hit him, having to face that disappointed look in her eyes just might finish him.

Walking in, Gaara noted the little differences that marked Hinata's presence – framed photographs, the small herbal garden in the window sill, freshly cut flowers in vases scattered throughout, the general neatness about the room and most significantly the simple but elegantly table set for one.

"I'm sorry to see that I missed, Hinata-san." His voice was low, words carefully measured out in both awkward greeting and an unspoken question to feel out his welcome or rather lack of it.

In the midst of grabbing a t-shirt, since he was still only half-dressed, Naruto spun around abruptly; hackles raised upon hearing her name on his lips. He stared the other man down, eyes narrowed, as his eyes faintly took an ominous cast. "Whatever problem you have with me, leave her out of it or it will be your last . . . I promise! He abruptly snarled.

Refusing to give way, Gaara forced himself to tap down Shukaku's instinctual desire for immediate retribution, again reminding himself that as far as Naruto was concerned, they were at best wary strangers and possibly enemies. Perhaps bringing up the kunoichi may not have been the wisest approach, he wryly decided after the fact, keeping his face free of expression.

An idea he found very interesting.

As he had understood it, their relationship had developed slowly after time, but in the past few days they must have progressed quite far for his friend to be so intensely protective of her. Unless, of course, Naruto unconsciously remembered more than anyone realized or, eyes narrowing slightly as he scrutinized the other man, perhaps while his actual memory was apparently lost, his emotions were retained? Gaara felt something like hope spark within him at the notion, before deciding to reflect on it later, first he had to convince the blonde that he wasn't a threat.

Calmly remaining still, he raised one palm upward in a gesture of non-violence. "Naruto, I meant nor insult or ill-will towards Hinata-san. In fact if she were here, she would be the first to tell you that we are friends, as are you and I. The fifth contacted me regarding your situation and I came to offer whatever assistance I could to one I consider both an ally and friend."

Eyeing him suspiciously, Naruto quickly jerked the neck of the shirt over his head, not relaxing, but not on the brink of attacking either. "My situation?" He raised an eyebrow, waiting for more information, but unwilling to give away anything.

"Yes, your situation. " When he realized that Naruto wasn't willing to divulge anything, he held back a sigh. "Your _more_ than obvious memory loss," he added pointedly.

"So you know . . . big deal. That doesn't prove that we're friends, you know." Naruto sniped back.

"Since we're alone, unless you want to find someone to verify what I've said, you're going to have to take my word on it." Gaara leaned against the wall.

Naruto stared back at him. If Gaara really wanted to kill him, he would have made an attempt already, but then again this wouldn't be the first time that the Gaara had entered Kohona under false pretenses.

"You really want to help or are you just messing with me?" He demanded in what Gaara could only assume must have been a damned uncomfortable position. The blonde was half-sitting on the bed, half crouched in a nearby chair as he pulled on his sandals all just so he could get at least one eye on the sand-nin at all times. Revealing a rare smile, he restrained his impulse to shake his head at Naruto's antics, and not all together unreasonable paranoia, and confirmed that he was sure.

Naruto stared at him for a moment longer, before shrugging. He wasn't sure if he actually believed the other man, but getting him out of the apartment and village couldn't be a bad idea no matter what his intentions might be. And besides, he _was_ still spoiling for a fight and if nothing else, he knew from experience that Gaara was probably his best choice. Being sealed with a demon himself, the red-head had enough stamina and skill to prove to be a challenge and if he was really telling the truth, than Naruto had much he could learn from him.

"In that case, I hope you're up for a little sparring," deciding at the last moment to substitute sparring for fighting. No need to insult him, if the guy was on the up and up, after all.

"You want to fight?" Gaara cocked his head to the side, considering the idea. It had been a few years since he'd last had a serious challenge, other the occasional Uchiha or Akatsuki attack, and while he didn't doubt for one second if Naruto truly believed him to be a threat that the leaf-nin wouldn't go for the kill, he was also aware that if he approached this fight as practice, then Naruto would follow suit. Despite everything over the years, Naruto retained an inner core of honorable integrity that was rare among shinobi – if he believed that his opponent could be saved without risking the safety of others, he would do it without that.

Although this quality had saved his own life once, because he held no illusions that Naruto chose to spare him in their first battle, it was a double-edged sword that was his friend's greatest weakness. Not to mention the only reason, he believed, that the Uchiha was still alive to wreak havoc throughout the shinobi world. If Naruto really had lost his memory permanently then perhaps this was an opportunity to nip that tendency in the bud. Gaara pondered the implications of that possibility, even as he nodded in assent.

* * *

Hinata went to the hospital. Because of Naruto's condition she was also temporarily taken off active duty and had far too much time on her hands, the least she could do was to put it to good use. She wanted to stay with Naruto but was afraid that she was smothering him. Although she was certain a breakthrough was coming, Hinata refused to believe otherwise, it likely wasn't going to happen today. Some time apart would be good for both of them, she told herself again, anxiously looking over her shoulder back at their apartment in the distance.

"Hinata, wait up a minute!""

She turned around to see Ino rushing towards her.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Pardon me?" Hinata carefully held her hands to her sides, resisting the impulse to play with fingers, a dead giveaway to her nervousness.

Ino rolled her eyes dramatically. "Hinata, you know I love you, but - _don't_ even give me that shit. What's the deal with Naruto?"

"Naruto?" The dark-haired kunoichi winced at the rising note as she repeated his

name.

"Yeah, Naruto – you know, blonde, loud, our soon to be appointed leader and, most notably under the circumstances, _your_ boyfriend." She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she stared down the smaller figure of her friend.

"Ummm, he's at home?"

"Well, I know that he's not on a mission, that's for sure." Ino narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Sakura doesn't know anything, Tenten is already out on another mission, Kakashi is no where to be found, to no one's surprise, and nobody else – namely the Hokage, my loser boyfriend or you are saying anything. And since Shika is impossible when he wants to avoid something, you're my best choice, so spill."

"I'm not sure what you want to know and . . . " Glancing around, Hinata quickly added, "Do you really think that this is the place to discuss anything?"

Ino blinked as if startled. "Oh wow, I didn't expect you to actually be reasonable," the blonde snickered. "That's makes you the first today, but," tilting her curiously for a moment, she said, "You're right. Another place would be better." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Let's go to Shikamaru's. Kami knows that he isn't there, I already checked." Ino winked at Hinata. "I've got the key and no one should bother us there."

Ino dragged Hinata through the streets of Kohona until they reached a non-descript door. Fishing the key out of one of a random pouch, Ino opened the door and pushed the younger woman inside. She spun around, eyes narrowing as she saw a suspicious puff of smoke drifting from the corner of a building across the street. "Gotcha," she whispered.

She may not have the eyes of some of her fellow shinobi, but Ino Yamanaka was no one's fool, aside from what she had picked up from her genius slacker of a boyfriend, she was no slouch went it came to genjutsus herself. Pocketing the key, she turned her back to the building and their curious onlooker and quickly formed a series of intricate hand seals. "Enjoy the show, Neji," a faint smirk crossed her lips, before she walked into the apartment and shut the door, securely locking it behind her.

Once inside, Ino shrugged off the concerned the look on Hinata's face. "Sorry about the mess." She rolled her eyes, "If I clean it all the time, then he'd take me for granted, but I'm sure I could scrounge up some tea, _somewhere_, if you'd like?"

"Ahhh . . . no need." Hinata watched the older girl as she walked around the small apartment, clearing a place for them to sit. "What were you doing out there?"

"Oh, that?" Ino asked off-handedly, critically examining clothing, before tossing them in a small, but growing pile in front of the closet. "Just Neji lurking around, here, finally a spot for you to sit." When Hinata didn't move or immediately respond, Ino looked up to see her standing there, pale white.

"Oh, Hinata, don't worry about him," she quickly spoke up, her voice abruptly soothing as she walked up and rubbed the other girl's arm in a gesture of consolation. "He's been following us since we met, but I took care of him."

"Following us?" Hinata slowly swallowed.

"Yep, but like I said it's taken care of, so no worries. He can spy all he wants, but all he's going to learn are a few bad recipes, which if he actually tries to create will serve him right." Ino smiled brightly at her dark-haired friend, while silently castigating Neji Hyuga and the rest of his damned family to a nice and toasty circle of hell. She made a mental note to chat with Shikamaru about him later on, this thing between him and Hinata was getting to be outrageous and nobody fucked around with her friends without impunity. Clan business or no, he was still a bastard, as far as she was concerned.

"Forget about him and sit. I'm going to put some tea on for us and then we'll catch up."

* * *

An hour later, Ino felt emotionally exhausted.

Damn that traitor, Sasuke, even gone he was still fucking everything up, without so much as a second thought to anyone else, Ino silently gritted her teeth.

"Ohmigod . . . Hinata, I am just . . . so sorry." She felt at a loss for words, something that almost _never_ happened to her.

The small smile the crossed Hinata's face did little to quell Ino's dismay. When she had suggested tea, she thought they were going to commiserate over their boyfriends getting injured in the line of duty, male stupidity or maybe their family's giving them grief – something superficial she needed to vent about, nothing like this.

She had known that something was up, but this was byond anything that she had never even suspected. Hinata was handling it _so_ much better than she ever would have been able to – the very idea of Shikamaru suddenly loosing his memory and forgetting everything they had been to each other was enough to horrify her, but actually having to live through it . . .

"If there is anything I can do and I mean _anything_, you know that all you have to do is ask, right?" Ino demanded, wanting – no needing to do something. Sitting around drinking tea was fine for some kunoichi she supposed, but not her. Shikamaru would flip out, if he thought that she even for one moment contemplated going after Sasuke. And as much as the idea of making him pay, and he had so much to pay for, appealed to her, she wasn't suicidal, but there had to be something else she could do.

"I know you would, Ino-chan." Hinata's smile grew a little wider as she looking into the concerned face of her friend. "Unfortunately there are no dragons anywhere in sight to be slayed this time," her gentle voice alluding to Ino's infamous history of running to the rescue of her classmates and friends.

"No, tilting at windmills, you mean?" Ino asked ruefully, sighing. "I don't know how you can be so calm, if I were you, I'd be running around like a chicken with its head cut off," she confessed, as she leaned back into the couch, elbow propped up and her chin resting in the palm of her hand.

Hinata laughed delicately at the image. "No, you wouldn't. I'd see you more beating up Shikamaru for allowing it to happen in the first place, then chasing Sakura around the streets of Kohona until she figured out a way to fix it."

"Yeah, well _that_ goes without saying," she cracked, before reaching out to take a sip of her tea. "Oohhh, this is ice-cold!" Ino frowned, staring down at her full cup in exasperation. "Hinata, _why_ didn't you _tell_ me? I would've made more, you know?

"Here, give me your cup and I'll brew us up a fresh pot," she blurted out as she jumped to her feet. For one moment, Ino distractedly realized that she was acting like her mother when her father was late coming home from a mission and winced.

Shaking her head with a smile, Hinata stood up. "That's not necessary."

"Oh, it's no troub -"

"But thank you, Ino." The petite kunoichi's voice was soft but clear, cutting through Ino's rush of words. Hinata placed one hand lightly on the taller woman's arm. "Thank you for . . . _everything_ – the offer, the cold tea, the company, but mostly just for being here and listening."

"I – I don't get the chance to do," she waved an almost childlike hand in a movement that was strangely more eloquent than her words," _this_, very often." There was a pause as pale eyes stared in the floorboard.

Finding whatever it was she sought, Hinata continued. "When you found me, I was . . . feeling sorry for myself. Naruto was frustrated, he didn't want me around and it's not like there are many places to just hang out in first thing in the morning and I didn't want to bother anyone." When Ino opened her mouth, Hinata shook her head. "I haven't spoken to anyone about this since it happened and it felt good to 'vent' as you would say."

"But now it's getting late and Naruto is out there somewhere," her hand moved again, slow and moody this time. "Sometimes, you know I can see the man I sent off last month, the man I love, but mostly I see that reckless boy I had such the painful crush on. Remember when we were that young and stupid?" Her smile transformed into something so intensely wistful yet intensely painful that Ino, watching had to blink back tears and she wasn't the type to cry, even at those sappy chick-flicks Sakura insisted on watching.

She shook her head again. "_That's_ the mindset he's in, he doesn't have a clue. He needs me Ino and I need to find him. Somehow we'll find a way to fix this, it's gotta to be, right?"

"I can help," the blonde quickly offered.

"No thanks, you've done more than enough and with my Byakugan, it won't take me very long at all."

Ino tilted her head for a moment. "Ohhh yeah. . . Sometimes, I forget that you're a Hyuga." A wicked smile crossed her face. "Yeah, you should get going, I'll take care of everything else."

"Everything else?" Hinata queried suspiciously. "Ino-chan . . . what are you up to?"

"Nothing, nothing, nothing . . . " Her voice carried an almost sing-song lilt as she led the other girl to the door. "Nothing at all for you to worry about."

Hinata gave her the hairy eyeball, her friend was definitely working some angle, but she didn't have anymore time to argue. "Ok, Ino, but don't do anything that gets me in trouble with Shikamaru, ok?" She turned to give a surprised Ino, a tight hug, before quickly walking her way down the street and out of sight.

* * *

Ino hung back, waiting impatiently and after a moment or two spotted her prey coming out of the woodwork, literally. She quickly intercepted him.

"Get out of my way, Yamanaka." Neji demanded in a bored tone.

"Yeah, ok. Hmmm, lemme think about this for a moment," she mocked him. "Ummm . . . nope, not going to happen, so fuck you, Hyuga." She rolled her eyes, slipping into a defensive stance.

"Your efforts are futile at best," he pointed out dismissively, his eyes focusing behind her.

"Futile?" Ino's eye narrowed, as her voice grew a shade darker.

"Do you know who you're dealing with here? 'Cause newsflash, I'm not Tenten or Hinata, Neji. I'm not in love, related or afraid of you."

"As if," he scoffed, his eyes coldly scrutinizing her, seeking out every weakness. "You're a naïve, weak, blonde, _female_ and without your teammates to back you up, you're nothing but a one-trick bitch and a pathetic one at that. Even Hinata as pathetic as she is, is more powerful that you."

"One trick-bitch, huh? Bet you think that's real clever, don't you? Misanthropic bastard," she responded sweetly in contrast to the concentrated gleam in her eyes. "Bossing around Tenten, tormenting Hinata, well, I don't put up with that shit from _anyone_ and forget about Shikamouru, Lee or hell, even Naruto. You may be a prodigy, but from what I can see, you're nothing more than a bully. You don't scare me," she taunted him.

"Obviously you're too stupid to comprehend the very danger you so assiduously court."

"And you're obviously out of your fucking mind, so we both know where we stand." She snarked back. "I want you to back off Hinata, otherwise you're going to be in a world of hurt."

"From you?" He faintly smirked, imperiously. "Don't make me laugh. Jounin you may be, but you're no threat to me."

"Arrogant as always and that's exactly why you'll go down." And don't think that it would be just me, see I'll tell you a secret, Neji . . ." She paused, subtly gesturing one hand, even as she moved it close enough to perform a jutsu or two if needed. "The rest of us, we actually _like_ Hinata, she's our _friend_ but you're nothing more than a pain in the ass."

And it was as she hit on some trigger.

Swallowing back a curse, she quickly began forming hand seals as she saw him begin his Kaiten, only to shake her head and relax as he seemingly froze in position.

From behind came the distinctive slow drawl of her boyfriend. "That's just enough, Neji." Moments later, Shikamaru dropped his Kagemane no Jutsu, slipping his hands into his pockets, he calmly strolled past the older nin, to move between him and Ino.

At first glance, to anyone who didn't know the shadow nin well, he was his usual lazy self, but anyone who had ever been on a mission with him would easily recognized the violent intent only just visible in his dark eyes. "Say goodbye Ino, Neji's got to be going now."

Blue eyes smoldered into the back of his messy hair, as she angrily snorted.

Both men ignored her as they stared each other down, before Neji reluctantly conceded and walked off, with one last hate-filled glare.

When the Hyuga was out of sight, Shikamaru sighed, slumping slightly as he rocked back on his heels, before turning to face her, his frustration clearly evident. "Jeez, Ino. Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack or something?"

She smacked him in the stomach. "What, you think that poor helpless, _female_ Ino couldn't take him?" Indignation lit up her eyes, as she scathingly demanded.

"Fuck that bullshit, _I_ know better," he all but snarled at her, "but that doesn't mean you should go around provoking one of the most powerful shinobi in the Bingo book on a _goddamn_ whim either! Do I have to lock you up or are you planning on going to go after Itachi or Orochimaru next?"

"Now you're just bitching." Ino tossed back her hair. "Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not a blonde airhead, Shika. I had everything under control."

"Yeah, I saw that. He damn near used the Kaiten on you, Ino." He ran his hand through his hair to hide that fact that it was still shaking. "You know the kind of damage that can do, I prefer you in one piece, so sue me for it."

Arguing with her was slowly loosening the knot of tension and fear that arose in his throat when he turned the corner to see his girlfriend squaring off with that crazy bastard, Neji. He had already recommended to the hokage that the Hyuga was long overdue for a pysch evaluation, but he'd gone too far this time. Without or without Tsunade's approval, he was going to put the Anbu and the Kohona MP on alert status as far as Neji was concerned.

It was a damn shame, in his opinion. After the failed attempt to rescue Sasuke and for a few years afterward, Neji had become someone that everyone got along with and someone you wanted on a mission with you, but those days were long gone. The Byakugan user had grown increasingly unstable after Hinata had moved off of the clan grounds and since getting captured on a mission six months, he was becoming steadily worse.

"Don't exaggerate. He was pissed, yeah, but he wasn't going to kill me and that's assuming that my ninjutsu failed." She shrugged carelessly.

"You really believe that he wouldn't try?" When she rolled her eyes at him again, he tried again. "You directly challenged, hell, you baited him, Ino. He may not have succeeded, but he was damn well going to try."

Ino promptly turned it around on him. "So then you _do_ think I'm incompetent?"

"That is _not_ what I said!" Shikamaru shook his head at the futility of this discussion, sometimes she drove him insane. "Screw it . . . I am not going to argue this with you."

Within seconds, he had her securely trapped within his Kagemane no Jutsu and he backed her up, until she was up against the wall of his apartment, before he broke it and stepped forward, pinning her there, his hands already holding hers in place on either side of her head. "Ino, he's _dangerous_, ok? Even if you don't think so, for _my_ peace of mind, please just promise me that you won't go out of your way to get in his face again, ok?"

She stared at him rebelliously for a long moment and inwardly Shika cringed, watching the wheels in her mind turn. Ino was going to make him pay for this, the only question was how.

"Fine," she said finally, "but, you're cleaning the apartment today. And I mean really cleaning it, none of this throwing everything into the closet or under the bed crap, and you taking me out tonight – dinner _and_ dancing."

He nodded with a rueful grin, gratefully he was getting off so light.

"And all bets are off, if he gets in my face or I find him stalking Hinata again."

"Agreed," Shika was quick to speak up, before she added any more conditions.

"Which reminds me, where the hell is Naruto? Shouldn't he being doing some-"

He could just see a rant starting and abruptly cut her off. "Ino, shut up for a minute, ok?" When her eyes darkened, Shikamaru laughed slightly, before capturing her lips in a fiercely hot kiss. One hand slid up, his fingers entwining with hers, while his other hand found the doorknob and fumbling opened the door, before he dragged her inside and still kissing her, he kicked the door shut behind them.

* * *

Activating her blood line limit, Hinata's eyes widened in the dim light of the setting sun, off into the distance of the forest, she could see Naruto fighting with Gaara of all people. Swallowing a curse, she took to the trees, with some luck she might get there before they killed each other, although what she was going to do when she actually arrived there, she wasn't certain of yet. Within minutes, she was in range and inhaled deeply, thankfully relaxing. Whatever they were doing, it was obvious that they weren't fighting to the death.

She hung back a bit observing them, silent and unseen in the shadows. The friendship between the two of them was, considering their history, a subject of endless debate among the Kohona nin, other than the select few who knew Naruto well, but Hinata always seen it as a gift, albeit a surprising one, even for him. It was never a question of acceptance; Naruto was always able to see past people's history, he made friends wherever he went, the way some people bought touristy trinkets.

However, they were usually, although heartfelt, superficial relationships at best – people he only occasionally saw when he was in the area or would send a card to when he remembered. Even in Kohona, where Naruto was finally accepted by most of the shinobi, his circle of friends was a small group of individuals – the survivors of the original 9 genin, a few of the elite Jounin, Tsuande-sama, and the members Konohamaru corps, most of whom had no idea of the Kyubi. As far as she knew, Gaara aside from herself, was the only other person that Naruto had actually ever told, and even that was under duress, but somehow having someone who shared the same burden seemed to work wonders for the both of them.

And although Hinata had initially been wary of Gaara, she soon came to appreciate the friendship between him and Naruto, how could she not? Gaara, despite his harsh exterior was just as isolated as Naruto and having spent time with him, she began to see the emotionally starved child he must have been. She smiled ruefully, of course if either of them ever knew how protective of them she felt at times, they'd probably refuse to speak to her for awhile.

"Oi Hina-chan! You going to come out and say Hi or what?"

Startled, she raised her head, shaking off her musings to see Naruto waving at her.

"Gotta forgive her, Gaara. Hinata likes to lurk about at times, can't take her eyes off of me, you know . . . " Naruto bragged to the as impassive as always Gaara, a wide grin on his face. A grin that grew wider as she appeared at the edge of the clearing, a slight blush visible along her cheeks.

Arching one eyebrow, Gaara looked from his friend to the petite kunoichi he had noticed some time ago and dryly remarked, "There is nothing to forgive, although if that's true Hinata, perhaps a visit to the hospital is in order?"

Hinata covered her mouth, weakly hiding her laughter, while Naruto turned a chiding glare at his friend.

"Hey . . . man, you're supposed to be on my side here," he complained, but there was no bite to his words. "Shit . . . " he muttered, "my friend and my girl both turning on me . . ." He threw up his hands, shaking his head in mock frustration.

"I wasn't aware that we were choosing sides," Gaara responded seemingly seriously, the corners of his mouth almost twitching upward, while Hinata continued to quietly laugh.

"That's right Naruto, I'm afraid that you've discovered our plot. Gaara and I are planning to run off together," she delivered with a mostly straight face, winking at the sand-nin.

Naruto's eyes opened wide as his mouth gaped and he nearly fell over in shock.

"Wha-?" Outrage tinged his half spoken demand, before he saw the amusement on their faces. "Ooohh . . . that was low Hina-chan," he grumbled loudly, even as a smile crossed his face.

When he first noticed Hinata nearby, but not approaching, he thought despite Gaara's words to the contrary that she was afraid of the Kazekage and had tried to set her at ease by teasing her. Apparently, they must have become very good friends over the years for Hinata to tease him back so boldly.

On one level, he was glad. Sparring with Gaara had been more satisfying than he had expected, not only had he gotten a chance to go all out, but Gaara had even worked with him on some techniques the other man said he had been favoring of late. On the other hand, however, after Hinata had make that comment, for one agonizingly long second, he had actually believed her and had only just been able to hold back the rush of explosive charka.

Taking a deep breath, he allowed himself to physically relax as their bantering voices blurred into background noise, while focusing his energy on leveling out both his temper and charka. For some reason he didn't quite understand, it seemed like his control had been shot to hell and whether this was a side-effect of whatever the hell the Uchiha bastard had done or just something that had happened in the time he had lost, he wasn't certain. All he did know is that it was beginning to get worse and that was bad news all around.

Apparently he and Gaara were good friends and as far as Hinata went . . . his mind shied away from deep emotions her name evoked, he almost nearly unleashed his full strength on them and as far as he could tell, neither of them had some much as a clue. And while Gaara's shield of sand might have kicked in fast enough to protect him, Hinata had no such defensive maneuvers. Forget about Sasuke, and Naruto was too caught up in his own thoughts to even notice his slip, he was dangerous enough on his own if he was ready to attack his precious people.

The thought sent chills down his spine.

"Naruto-kun?"

He shook his head, blinking slightly as he realized that Hinata was calling his name and from the puzzled expression on her face and the more suspicious one on Gaara's face, it wasn't for the first time either.

"What's up, Hina-chan?" He asked jauntily, pasting a bright smile on his face as he resolved to forget the haunting questions for a little while at least, but pasted on the concerned glance Gaara and Hinata exchanged he failed, miserably.

"Ummm," she glanced from Naruto to Gaara apologetically then back to Naruto with a troubled look in her eyes. "Since Gaara-san was in town, I had invited him to dinner with us tonight, but if you're too tired . . ." Her voice trailed off uneasily, with a helpless sort of shrug that spoke volumes more than her actual words.

Naruto recovered quickly, deliberately interjecting a note of nonchalance in his voice. "Me? Too tired for friends and food? No way, it'd never happen. You should know better, Hina-chan," he playfully scolded her, hoping to belie their worry.

It was an obvious failure judging from their reaction, but he proceeded to talk their ears off back into the village. Naruto was more than sick about endlessly talking, so he amused himself by prodding the stoic sand-nin into telling stories about Sunagakure and the changes in policy that he had been enacting in the past few years. It wasn't the most interesting discussions he could remember, but it was better than having to be the focus of attention. Afterwards, they made plans to hang out again tomorrow, although that was more of Hinata's doing than either of the two of them.

TBC

Ok, so that was the tenth chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me know that too and why. I've only recently discovered Naruto and I'm depending on you to let me know if they're OOC, or off in any other way.

Once again, I never quit a story, I'm just writing three of them at the moment and sometimes I get more into one or another, but I will b always /b come back to finish a story out.

So please don't forget to review, it's good for your karma. :D


	11. The Grand Scheme

Disclaimer time – yeah, yeah, obviously I don't owe the Naruto, Hinata or anything characters or places you might recognize, so please don't sue me, I have nothing but debt anyway. So sorry about the delay everyone flinches I've had this on my computer for awhile, meant to post it, got caught up by a host of other issues & someone forgot that i hadn't. On the brighter side, this chapter may answer a few questions you've had, although it also opens up a few others, naturally :D

Thanks so much and don't forget to review, because after all, it was someone who sent a PM, which reminded me that I hadn't posted this chapter yet,

* * *

Chapter 11 – The Grand Scheme

Staring at the stone wall in front of him, Sauske came to the conclusion that he was fucked - reduced to mere taijutsu, which despite his all skill put him on a lower level than even Lee, unless he forcibly triggered his curse seal. Despite Kabuto's repeated attempts to remove whatever was blocking him, he still couldn't actively utilize his charka, nor could the medic-nin explain the presence in his head. Trust Naruto to somehow fuck up an otherwise ingenious plan, he shook his head in frustration.

It was the timing that really killed him . . . well, that and the fact that it was _Naruto_. More than even Itachi, it seemed that he was caught in a constant battle of playing catch-up with his old teammate. It had been perfect, not only would he be able to finally prove himself as the superior shinobi, but he would be able to use what he'd gain to finally avenge himself on Itachi. Once he killed his brother, everyone would have no choice but to acknowledge his strength – him, not Gaara, Naruto, Kakashi, Orochimaru or Itachi.

Everything he had ever done was to reach that one goal and to be so unbelievable close only to have it torn away from him by Naruto, of all people, Naruto who shouldn't have even graduated . . . was enough to drive him insane.

Remembering his frustration and disbelief when he was a member of team seven and watched in incomprehension as 'dead-last' managed to somehow surpass him in every aspect brought back every resentful moment. And then when he finally learned the secret behind the dobe's almost meteoric success, the demonic source of his seemingly inexplicable power, it reinforced every initial belief he'd ever had of Naruto.

Naruto was and always would remain a nothing, without the Kyubi, he'd be nothing more than a footnote in Konoha. He'd never had made it higher than a mere genin, assuming he even got it that far. Because of his unnatural stamina due to the Nine Tails, everyone thought he was some kind of genius and constantly promoted him through the ranks. When Sasuke had heard that Naruto was being considered as the next Hokage, he laughed his ass off it, but when it was officially announced, the laughter had stopped.

He had been declared a missing-nin, a fucking traitor, while that fraud was announced as the next Kage of Konoha – the ironic humiliation ate at him like acidic bile. _He_ was the one who had killed Orochimaru, who had been hunting Itachi for all these years, Sasuke Uchiha. He was the heir to the greatest bloodline in all of Konoha, hell in the entire shinobi world, yet Naruto was the one they loved, the one who garnered all the praise that rightfully belonged to him.

A nobody, a nothing, a virtual non-entity, he was a parasitic weakling who depended on a fucking demon to survive who subverted all the glory that should be his. So what if he hadn't chosen to be sealed by Nine Tails, Naruto certainly used it to his full advantage when it suited him. Who cared that the dobe was a fucking orphan? Hadn't he survived the slaughter of his entire clan? Hadn't he been possessed by the damned curse seal? Hadn't he suffered as much, while going on to achieve so much more?

It was an injustice.

Lounging in what used to be Orochimaru's 'office,' or what in the privacy of his mind Sasuke had always dubbed the throne room, he sat casually in the huge chair that despite his best efforts he never really filled completely. One leg thrown over the harsh arm, as he leaned at an angle, half resting against the large back of the chair, half sprawled across the other armrest, calculatingly giving off every appearance of apparent calm in an effort to stave off his growing sense of losing all control.

"I did try to warn you, Sasuke-san," Kabuto took a moment to push his glasses higher on his nose, "that attempting to posses the Jinchūriki (a host carrier of a demon spirit) might have unforeseen repercussions."

Glaring at the older man, Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the implied criticism buried beneath seemingly subservient layers and he had to physically stop himself from grinding his teeth. It was a galling reminder that as much as he'd enjoy mercilessly slaughtering the medic-nin, he didn't dare . . . not yet, anyway. The bastard was still too useful. He'd already made that mistake with Orochimaru and just look where that had gotten him.

"Your _warnings,_" and he sneered the word out, "were vague and _obviously_ insufficient. What I need now is to know how to fix it . . . but as usual, when it's actually important, you're useless to me as you were to Orochimaru." A bitter smirk of perverse satisfaction teased at the corner of his mouth as he watched Kabuto stiffen.

In response to the reproof, the grey-haired man dropped his head slightly, just low enough to skirt the edge of insubordination. "As always, Sasuke-san, I do my best," but for all the softness of his words, Sasuke could still make out the underlying hint of rebelliousness and felt torn between vindication and wariness. He stared at the top of the man's head intently, wanting nothing more than to see his blood flowing across the stone floor, idly contemplating which method would produce the greatest splatter.

Kabuto's next words, therefore, took him by surprise.

"If you really wanted to know, of course, I could always perform the Edo Tensei (Summoning: Impure World Resurrection) and bring back Orochimaru-sama, himself so you could _personally_ question him. No one, nor even I, knows more about the Fushi Tensei (Living Corpse Reincarnation) jutsu than the man who created it, Sasuke-san."

The sly smile Sasuke saw on Kabuto's face belied the otherwise respectful offer and he broke out into a burst of harshly sardonic laughter. Dammit, even after he had killed the bastard, that damned snake continued to thwart him from beyond the grave. "Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you? _Your precious _Orochimaru_-sama back in the flesh and under your control?_ You really think I'm _that_ stupid?" He demanded scornfully.

"The second you got that chance, you'd try to avenge the old bastard by siccing him on me! You know it, I know it, hell, everyone in this damned village knows it! And Kami only knows what you'd do afterwards," he snickered at the thought, "even your Orochimaru-sama would draw the line at necrophilia, but somehow I don't think you'd be able to."

Sasuke shook his head in genuine amusement. "The answer to that question, if you didn't figure it out, is no. Give me a reason to continue to spare your worthless life and find another way!"

"As you wish, Sasuke-san," Kabuto bit off his words carefully, quietly swallowing back his instinctive violent reaction. When Sasuke waved him out, to all appearances, he was his normal subdued self, but to those who cared to see, his lowered eyes were bloodshot with rage.

Exiting the room, he immediately made his way outside, breathing deeply in an effort to calm himself.

"Please tell me again, why we don't just kill the little upstart sonofabitch and be done with it?"

Kabuto spun around, sinking into a defensive stance before he recognized Yoroi, his old 'teammate' from the ill-fated Chunin exam and relaxed slightly. Glancing around, although he couldn't see an overt threat in sight, it never paid not to be overly cautious in the village of the sound. "Come on," he sighed tilted his head slightly towards the outskirts of the buildings.

Yoroi shrugged in resignation before followed the de facto second in command, although in his mind, Kabuto was the only really in command since Sasuke's assassination of Orochimaru.

Once they were far enough away and he was collected enough to speak, Kabuto turned to the other man, slipping off his glasses to polish them.

Yoroi leaned back slightly at the sight of his still gleaming red eyes. "Whoa, man. I'm not the enemy here . . . " he raised his hands, palms upward.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that, Yoroi," Kabuto responded wryly, with a faintly bemused chuckle that died soon afterwards.

Relaxing slightly, Yoroi lowered one hand, the other running anxiously through his hair. "Ok then, man. Seriously, what the fuck are we doing here? I know you said to wait, but it's been like six years now and nothing's changed, if anything shit is getting worse. He's fucking lost it years ago and now? Going after the Kyubi? How many of us died because of his little pet project? That last mission was bullshit and you know it! We need to finish this and now, while there are enough of us left to take him. I don't care how much he learned from Orochimaru, he's still only one shinobi and he bleeds as red as any of us."

"No, we _can't_ take him, Yoroi. Believe me, if we could, this would have been over long ago."

Kabuto sighed again, sick of rehashing the old argument, he replaced his glasses, eyes slowly faded back to their normal shade of inky black. "Even if we could convince those who aren't loyal to us and managed to unite all of the sound nin, it _still_ wouldn't be enough."

"So what then?" The dark-haired man exploded in frustration. "We stay and slowly commit suicide by going on misguided missions that turn into full-blown slaughters? What the fuck kind of a plan is that? And don't give me that whole 'a nin's duty is to do or die and not to question why' bullshit, either, Kabuto. If I wanted to be kunai fodder and die with honor as an obedient shinobi, then I would have stayed in the damn hidden waterfall village," he sneered.

"No, we stick to the plan and wait, between the Akatsuki and Konoha, someone is going to take him out and then we'll be free."

He laughed, "But when, Kabuto? You've been saying that forever and nothing has happened yet!"

"Soon. Going after the Kyubi _was_ monumentally stupid. The Akatsuki have marked the Nine Tails as theirs and the Leaf are hardily going to allow such an attack to go unanswered. All we have to do is wait and stay out of the crossfire."

"And how the hell do you propose we do that with _everyone _gunning for his head? I know you've got 'connections', but come on, man. . . . You know he'll gladly sacrifice us if it comes down to it."

"Sasuke'll count on it, but since his orders go through me . . . " Kabuto let his voice trail off meaningfully. "And as far as my 'connections' go," his eyes narrowed, "I'll have an additional source of information, in case he does try to screw us."

Kabuto gave the other man a minute to digest what he had just told him, whatever conclusions Yoroi came to were of no concern to him, so long as the man could keep his mouth shut. The moment he suspected the man was ready to flee or worse betray him, the medic-nin knew he'd have to die.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd have to kill a former ally to silence him, of course, but Yoroi had been a teammate for over a decade . . . It was one his longest standing, albeit loose friendships Kabuto could remember and he felt what he assumed would have been a tinge of remorse in most other people. All he could think of was home and much he wanted to go back, not that there was much to go back too, of course. His lips twisted into a wry mockery of a smile.

Anyone else would have given up years ago, much like Yoroi was ready to revolt or run, but what was a mere nine years in the grand scheme of things? He was on the same self-imposed mission he'd been on for nearly twenty years and still couldn't see a way out. Time was measured not in months or years, but rather in events – in retrospect if he had been half as smart as he'd believed, he would have left after Orochimaru's death, technically he would have fulfilled his goal, but stupidly he had wanted to see it played out to the end.

Who for one moment would have thought that Sasuke would have survived? And when he'd finally reestablished contact again, asking for permission to please come back home, somehow he'd allowed himself to getting talked into staying on by Gama-sennin. After Jiraiya's death, he could do no less than the old man, so he continued on, but he was growing so tired. The constant deceit that was now as instinctive breathing was wearing on him.

So when Sasuke came to him with his brilliant plan to posses Naruto and stealing both his knowledge and strength of the Kyubi, Kabuto stayed silent. He didn't point out the terrible flaw, not that it would have dissuaded the desperate-for-power Uchiha in the least, but nor did he inform his superiors in Konoha. For that decision, he knew that he would pay the price, but considering all the years he'd spent in exile, how bad could it really be?

However much the Fifth might want his blood for she would see as yet another betrayal, the fact remained that he was the only one who knew exactly what Sasuke had wrought with his madness and the only one left who knew how to undo it. For that, if no other reason, he'd be guaranteed sanctuary in Konoha, assuming he could get there in one piece. Something that became less likely by the day.

Kabuto wondered again, where the hell where they? He had sent for an extraction days ago. If his message had been intercepted, then he would already be dead so it must have gotten through, but the lack of response had him more on edge than he'd been in years.

His thoughts were interrupted when he realized that Yoroi was talking to him and he focused back on the other man, when he realized that it was more of the more of the same . . . Yoroi was worried about his own ass, as usual. Sighing deeply, he reassured him, repeating the same old platitude as before. "Relax . . . just wait . . . blah, blah, blah . . ." and swallowing back his real fears and concerns until the other man was satisfied and wandered away.

Kabuto shook his head in exhaustion, Konoha had better move soon. He couldn't keep this up forever and if he was going to die before this was all over, he wanted to see the green forests of home, one last time. He stared off into the distance until the fall of night, when he reluctantly retreated back to his quarters.

* * *

Gaara sat in a side chair, his eyes more focused on his friends than whatever DVD was actually playing on the television. The sun had long since set and Hinata could barely keep her eyes open. It was a curious situation, he mused to himself. Ever so often her eyes would slowly fall shut and her head would drift to rest against Naruto's shoulder, who would then flinch and wake her back up again, both of them mumbling a faint apology.

It was such a far cry from their usual behavior, and although he hadn't spent nearly as much time with Hinata as he had with Naruto, he saw enough that made him idly wish that he had slaughtered the Uchiha all those years ago during the Chunnin examination. Envisioning it gave him a small measure of satisfaction, the reality of course may have been very different, but he could dream. Shaking his head, the stoic sand-nin let the bloody image go as something to play with later. He had already made the determination that had been requested of him, not that the answer was going to satisfy anyone.

Whatever the Uchiha had done, and Gaara fully suspected that he knew, which if he was correct opened up a new hellish set of problems unto itself, was something that he had no knowledge of how to correct. He had almost confessed as much to Hinata earlier during dinner, but Naruto's reappearance had held his tongue. He would need to tell the both of them, along with Kakashi who he was sure shared his belief and Tsuande-sama, of course, but he selfishly choose to withhold revealing his suspicions.

At least they still have tonight to indulge in ignorance, although if this was how they usually spent their nights since the incident, Gaara didn't know whether to laugh or just shake his head in disbelief, wondering how the two of them ever hooked up in the first place. Where was Temari when he could actually use her? She was so _much_ better at this matchmaking shit . . . About as much as he could manage was to get the two of them on the couch together and even that had been a bit of a fight.

He even contemplated calling her, but the thought of her reaction was enough to decide to pass on it. There was only so much humiliation he was willing to go through, even for Naruto's sake, which only reminded of him of that time he's let the blonde drag him out to karoke . . . talk about nightmares.

"Gaara?" Naruto's low and oddly hesitant voice caught his attention and he looked at the blonde directly.

"Yes?"

"So have you figured it out yet?"

Green eyes narrowed slightly and taken a bit aback, he mentally debated a second too long. Playing ignorant was no longer a viable option, he realized and sighed heavily.

"How long have you known?"

Naruto smiled ruefully. "Not too long, really, although I figured out something was up back in the forest, even before Hinata showed up. Your timing was . . . suspect to say the least. I might be dumb, man, but not that dumb. Who put you up to it, Tsunade-baba or Kakashi?"

"The Fifth requested my assistance, although I believe it was Kakashi who suggested it."

Naruto nodded slightly as if in resignation, taking care not to jar Hinata. "Any brilliant ideas?"

"Unfortunately, no." Gaara paused, getting his thoughts straight. "From what I can surmise, the Uchiha must have attempted the Fushi Tensei – "

"But fucked it up," Naruto abruptly interrupted him, scoffing sarcastically. "Yeah, you think?" Tell me something that I _don't_ know . . . like how to reverse it."

It was now Gaara's turn to hesitate. "When did you first suspect it?"

The blonde sighed. "For a couple of days now." He shrugged.

"What the hell else could it really be? With all the research Tsunade-baba and Hinata have done, not to mention the endless fucking tests, we know it's not medical. And Sasuke is too impatient to create his own jutsus, and even if he wasn't, what would be the point of one that would erase my memory? I would still have my actual ability, since I didn't physically regress and could just relearn everything. Besides, stealing my skill memory through a jutsu is stupid, he could do all that with his damned Sharington. And he knows all that."

"Nope," Naruto shook his head, "Sasuke wanted the one thing from me that he couldn't memorize, learn or compete against."

"The Kyubi, "Gaara answered softly.

"It has to be," Naruto finished the thought, running one hand distractedly through his hair. "Which pretty much means, I'm fucked."

Gaara shot him a questioning glance.

Naruto shrugged again, his eyes firmly focused on the muted television screen.

"It's been nine years now, three years longer than Sasuke should be alive. Considering how much of a hard-on Orochimaru had for the bloody Sharington there is no way he would have missed his chance at it, if he was still alive, which means that Sasuke must have killed him, so unless someone can figure out a way to circumvent the seal . . . " His words trailed out, the low tone in his voice was Gaara's only clue of how hard Naruto was really taking this.

The sand-nin watched with an unfamiliar sense of helplessness as Naruto tilted his head to stare blindly at the ceiling. "No one really understands what it's like trying to take a crash course in the past nine years of your life. Yeah, people will tell you stories and intellectually you try to learn them, but there is no recognition, just something you read off a scroll or something. And I can explain all of this, but it's like when you told me about the Akatsuki coming after you, you can imagine it as much as you want, but it's just words. Without the actual experience, it's just not real."

He laughed mirthlessly. "And that doesn't even take into consideration the three years I spent with Jiraiya which are pretty much a fucking blank. So much is gone and I don't know how the hell to get any of it back!"

Hinata flinched slightly and Gaara realized that either she had just woken up or was awake all along, as Naruto still unaware continued to rant.

Unconsciously, Naruto's voice, already tight and angry, rose until he was nearly yelling. "It's like I'm trying to fight the strongest enemy I've ever had to face, alone, without any weapons or techniques and I can't even _see_ what it is that I'm fighting. All I know is that I'm getting my ass kicked and I can't find a fucking way out. And there's no pressure except . . . oh yeah! Let's not forget the fucking fact that if I don't figure out a way to fix this, I and everyone I care about might die! But, hey, no fucking pressure, right?"

He laughed again, as Gaara and Hinata's eyes met in consternation, because they both realized the truth in everything he admitted.

After a moment, Hinata's hand slid out to cover Naruto's clenched fist. "You are never alone, not then and not now." Her voice was soft, but as firm as Gaara had ever heard it.

Startled, Naruto pulled his hand back from her gentle touch and turned to her with a fearful expression in his eyes. "You heard - "

"Everything?" Sitting up, she finished his question with the simple response of, "yes."

He stared at her in confusion, because while he had heard her, he couldn't bring himself to believe her. Without even thinking about it, Naruto subtly angled his body away from hers, too afraid to ask the question he desperately wanted to ask, because when she said everything, she_ couldn't_ have really meant everything. She couldn't have, because everything would be that she knew about the . . . And even in his own his head he couldn't finish the thought, because if she really knew, then there was no way she would still be looking at him with those caring eyes.

"I'm only going to say this once more – the Kyubi is the Kyubi and Naruto-kun is Naruto-kun. Just like Gaara isn't to blame for the Shukaku, like I am not to blame for my family's failings, you are _not _to blame for the actions of the nine-tails that happened even before you were even born."

"But . . but . . ." Naruto couldn't thing of a thing to say to that.

"And I swear to the gods that I will _personally_ kick the ass of the next person who says one word to the fucking contrary, even if it is you!"

* * *

"Find what you're looking for, Neji-nichan?" A sly voice drawled from behind him, as he drew himself up stiffly.

Ignoring the less than diminutive girl, Neji silently ground his teeth as he quickly rolled up the scroll, he'd been reading, and began sliding it back into place.

"Not so fast," she chided him, reaching past his larger figure to snatch out of his hands. Carefully blocking the exit, Hanabi laid it back out onto to the table, her eyes quickly skimming its contents. "Tell me, cousin, what it is so interesting that you had to sneak into the main house's library at this late hour?"

Stoically ignoring her, he stared past her shoulder, her unchecked impudence grating his nerves.

"I asked you a question, _branch member_, so you'd best answer it . . . or face the inevitable consequences of disobedience. " She hissed, glaring at him over her shoulder.

And there it was - the only threat that this . . . child could and would, he knew from past experience, wield against him to force his compliance. The indignity of having to cater to this child's whims never failed to add insult to his old injury. "And which question it that you would like answered, Hanabi-san?" As her eyes flashed angrily, he added with a faint note of condescension, "After all, you did ask two."

Hanabi's eyes glowered brightly for a split-second, before she regained her control.

"Oh poor Neji, all that genius, yet you still attempt to rebel against your betters. My father may tolerate it out of respect for his late brother, but you and I know that will come to pass soon enough, and then where will you be, hmmm? That stiff pride of yours will be your undoing, I fear, unless you learn to heel properly." She turned to face him properly, reaching out with one hand to idly trail it through his long, loose flowing hair, a vindictive smile crossing her face as she felt the muscles of his back tense under her light touch.

"You really do hate it so much, don't you?" The slight girl mused aloud, more to see if she could tease out any more of a reaction from him and she didn't get one, Hanabi viciously twisted her fist and jerked him backward, until his face was nearly level to her mouth. "Well, best that you get used to it!" She snarled behind angry sneer, nearly pouting when she could only force a slight dilation of his pupils.

Releasing him, she made a show of examining her hand, with an expression of distaste, before whipping it unnecessarily along the leg of her pants. Refusing to feed into her ploy, Neji continued to blandly stare at a point, just beyond her shoulder.

"Do you require anything else, Hanabi-san?"

Pale eyes narrowed at him, before she waved one manicured hand dismissively. "No, not tonight, anyway. You may go, but," and she sneered again at him, "do not forget your place in this family."

Allowing her that last parting shot, he ironically inclined his head the merest fraction on an inch, before quickly moving past her into the hallway and door leading to outside. He breathed in deeply, even gratefully, before disappearing into the night.

Once the door closed behind him, Hanabi smiled again before focusing her attention on the open scroll. After all, it must have been something important, if he had willing to brave an encounter with her over it, but reading it only confused her . . . why was Neji suddenly so interested in ancient history? The Kyubi had been disposed of long before she was even born, right?

She frowned slightly as a new thought occurred to her. Disposed of, yes, but not necessarily forgotten. . . She knew that she had heard her father and other elders speak of the Kyubi, but always in the most hushed of voices and suddenly regretted her impulse to let her cousin go so easily. Neji was nothing if not methodical and if he was investigating the Nine Tails demon, there must be a very good reason and whatever it was, she decided, she was going to know it too.

The announcement making her the heir hadn't come through yet, and while that annoyed her a bit . . . ok, perhaps more than a bit, she was confident that her father was merely waiting she passed the Joni exam and then she would make certain her cousin was properly collared, like any good dog. In the meantime, she was sure she could wheedle a little bit of information out of him. After all, she was his only heir now anyway.

Making her decision, she quickly rolled up the scroll and rolled it, slipped it inside of her jacket and wandered back into bedroom.

TBC

Ok, so that was the eleventh chapter, hopefully you liked it and are intrigued enough to want some more, if so please review. If you hated it, well let me know that too and why.

Once again, I never quit a story, I'm just writing three of them at the moment and sometimes I get more into one or another, but I will **_always_** come back to finish a story out.

So please don't forget to review, it's good for your karma. :D


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